JOURNALIST. PRESENTER. FILMMAKER
FEATURED
CATHOLIC EXORCISMS IN THE PHILIPINES
Al Jazeera | 101 East Documentary
DIRTY WORK
SKY | News
‘WOMEN, LIFE, FREEDOM’
Ted Talk | Tedx London
THE DARK SECRETS OF SUMO WRESTLING
CHANNEL 4 | Unreported World
NEPAL’S CHILD LABOURERS
VICE | World News
BRITAIN’S VIRGINITY CLINICS EXPOSED
ITV | Exposure
MADNESS OF WAR
BBC | Our World
FORCED TO BE FAT
CHANNEL 4 | Unreported World
AFGHAN STARS
BBC | Radio 4 / World Service
NEPAL’S LIVING CHILD GODDESS’
BBC | Our World
THE RISE OF BRAZIL’S BIGGEST GANG
VICE | World News
KENYA’S SWARM CHASERS
CHANNEL 4 | Unreported World
Sahar Zand
A multimedia British-Iranian reporter and filmmaker with extensive experience in long-form current affairs and documentaries.
Sahar has fronted and produced a range of award-winning stories from across the world, including some of the most remote and hostile environments, for the BBC, Channel 4, ITV, Sky, Vice and a number of other international broadcasters.
BBC World Service documentary by Sahar Zand exploring hygge, Danish food culture and seasonal Scandinavian cooking with renowned chef, food writer and author Trine Hahnemann. Recorded in Copenhagen, this immersive audio documentary explores Danish cuisine, hospitality, cookbooks, culinary traditions, seasonality, community and the role of food in creating warmth, comfort and togetherness.
Channel 4 | Unreported World Documentary | Investigative journalist and presenter Sahar Zand travels to the Philippines for Unreported World on Channel 4 to investigate the booming business of faith healing, miracle cures and spiritual medicine, examining unregulated clinics, vulnerable patients, healthcare inequality and the deadly consequences of delayed medical treatment in this investigative documentary.
Rory Peck Trust | Sahar Zand | British Iranian journalist | Panel Discussion with Jon William, Yousef Hasham, International World Press Freedom Day
BBC | World Service | The Documentary | In the Studio | Kubra Khademi
On a busy street in Kabul, a young artist steps into traffic wearing a steel sculpture she has shaped around her breasts and buttocks. She calls the piece Armour. Within minutes, a crowd gathers. Days later, death threats force her to flee the country.
Today, Afghan artist Kubra Khademi lives in exile in France, creating bold multidisciplinary works that confront patriarchy while reclaiming the female body as a site of power, sexuality and resistance. Drawing on personal history and the cultures she grew up in across Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan, her art blends performance, painting and symbolism to challenge deeply rooted taboos around women’s bodies.
For her latest series, Origin of the Universe, Khademi paints surreal scenes of women giving birth to animals , images inspired by a story her grandmother once told her about strength and survival.
Following her creative process, Sahar Zand joins Khademi in her studio as she paints one of the works, revealing how memory, exile and defiance are transformed into art.
The i Paper | Sahar Zand | British Iranian journalist article i Paper Iran protests revolution 2026 massacre Khamenei, Trump, UK, Brutal Crackdown news report
The i Paper | Sahar Zand | British Iranian journalist article i Paper Iran protests revolution 2026 massacre Khamenei, Trump, UK, Brutal Crackdown news report
BBC World Service documentary by Sahar Zand following Bianca Raffaella, a registered blind British artist, Women in Art Award winner and former Tracey Emin Artist Residency artist, as she creates a new painting while pregnant. An intimate audio documentary exploring contemporary art, motherhood, visual perception, blindness, memory and creativity.
Aljazeera | 101 East Documentary | Award-winning investigative journalist Sahar Zand investigates the rise of Catholic exorcisms in the Philippines in this Al Jazeera 101 East documentary exploring possession, faith healing, mental health, religion and vulnerable communities.
BBC World Service Heart & Soul documentary by Sahar Zand exploring Bangladesh’s first mosque built to welcome hijras and transgender Muslims. With rare access to a community in Mymensingh, this intimate audio documentary follows their fight for faith, dignity and acceptance amid rising religious conservatism, exploring Islam, transgender identity, religious freedom, LGBTQ+ rights, human rights and the power of community to challenge discrimination and reclaim belonging.
Global | The News Agents with Emily Maitlis and Jon Sopel | Sahar Zand | British-Iranian journalist on Iran-Israel conflict | Tehran airstrikes | regime protests | voices from inside Iran | crackdown | 2025
ABC News | Sahar Zand Article: Iran crackdown deepens with speedy executions and arrests. Three Iranians were executed for alleged spying, Iran's judiciary said. British-Iranian journalist on Iran-Israel conflict | Tehran airstrikes | regime protests | voices from inside Iran
Global | The News Agents with Emily Maitlis and Jon Sopel | Sahar Zand | British-Iranian journalist on Iran-Israel conflict | Tehran airstrikes | regime protests | voices from inside Iran | crackdown | 2025
The i Paper | Sahar Zand | British Iranian journalist article i Paper Iran Israel conflict Tehran airstrikes regime protests voices from inside Iran news report 2025
BBC World Service In the Studio documentary by Sahar Zand following Bangladeshi artist Bishwajit Goswami as he creates a major installation inspired by Bangladesh's rivers. With intimate access to his creative process in Dhaka, this audio documentary explores contemporary art, climate change, pollution, identity, culture, environmental storytelling and the communities shaped by the country's waterways.
BBC World Service In the Studio documentary by Sahar Zand following Iranian artist and former Paralympian Mohammad Barrangi as he prepares a major exhibition. With intimate access to his creative process, this audio documentary explores disability, Persian art, climate change, migration, exile, identity and contemporary visual storytelling.
BBC World Service Heart & Soul documentary by Sahar Zand investigating violent attacks against Bangladesh's Hindu minority following the fall of Sheikh Hasina's government. With rare on-the-ground access across Bangladesh, this two-part investigative documentary explores religious violence, misinformation, political unrest, human rights, religious extremism and the growing challenges facing one of South Asia's most vulnerable communities.
TRIVAX: Iran's Underground Metal Scene & Mahsa Amini Protests | Sahar Zand BBC Documentary
BBC World Service documentary by Sahar Zand following Iranian heavy metal band TRIVAX as they create music inspired by the Mahsa Jina Amini protests. Exploring censorship, freedom of expression, black metal, Middle Eastern music, exile, human rights and resistance, this immersive audio documentary reveals how artists challenge oppression through music.
Podcast interview 2024 | Freelancing for Journalists | Best Investigation
Gisuboran | Present Space: In 2023, Sahar Zand cut her hair in solidarity with protesters in Iran. Here, she reflects on a long history of this ritual, known in Farsi as “Gisuboran”
Iran International | Live TV Interview
UK anti-immigrant riots
Sky News | Sahar Zand | Iran elects new “reformis” president Masoud Pezehkian
Journalism Awards 2024 | Freelancing for Journalists | Best Investigation
BBC | World Service
In The Studio - Becoming Dragon
Sky News | Sahar Zand | Iran: President Ebrahim Raisi dies in Helicopter Crash
Sky News | The World Tonight with Yalda Hakim | Sahar Zand | AID WORKERS KILLED IN ISRAELI AIRSTRIKE
Iran Elections 2024 | SKY News | Live TV Interview | SAHAR ZAND
Sky News | Sahar Zand | Iran: Iranian Journalist Pouria Zeraati Stabbed in London
SatPars7 | Sahar Zand | Khodemooni: Persian speaking channel panel about Child labour
The Liberty Magazine | Sahar Zand | An Interview With Sahar Zand: The Fearful Rule of the Iranian Government
Discussing the fearful rule of the Iranian government, and the need to separate politics from religion and to convert to freedom and democracy, for the February 2024 issue of Tokyo-based Japanese magazine and their English Website.
Sky News | Sahar Zand |Shilan Mirzaee: Activist could be sentenced to death in Iran as she faces imminent deportation from Turkey