Sammi Cannold & Safi Rauf Tie the Knot

The New York Times has reported that director Sammi Cannold and humanitarian Safi Rauf have tied the knot.

Read the full story HERE. 

The pair first met in 2021 when Cannold volunteered in Washington DC for Rauf's nonprofit Human First Coalition, helping at-risk Afghans evacuate the country. In December 2021, Rauf, who was in Kabul doing work through his nonprofit, was taken hostage by the Taliban. The pair communicated through calls on a smuggled phone for months. Rauf was held captive by the Taliban for 105 days, and was released in April of 2022. 

Cannold and Rauf were married in Iowa on July 20, 2024. 

Cannold joked that their wedding was the “basis of a giant sitcom”, stating that it was “One-third Muslim Afghans, one-third Jews, and one-third gay men who work in theater, all in a cornfield in Iowa.”

Read the full story HERE. 

About Sammi Cannold

Sammi Cannold is a director who is one of Forbes Magazine's 30 Under 30 in Hollywood & Entertainment, class of 2019. Recent theater credits include Evita (New York City Center), Endlings (New York Theatre Workshop, A.R.T.), Ragtime on Ellis Island, Violet on a moving bus (A.R.T.), and Allegory (La Jolla Playhouse WOW). Upcoming projects include Carmen (Lincoln Center w. MasterVoices), a documentary film, and a feature film. Associate director credits include the Broadway production of Natasha, Pierre... (dir. Rachel Chavkin). Sammi has also served as an Artistic Fellow at the A.R.T., a member of Cirque du Soleil's Creative Cognoscenti, and a Sundance Institute Fellow and developed work with Playwrights Realm, The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, New York Stage and Film, Cirque du Soleil, and Nickelodeon. She holds a B.A. from Stanford University and an M.A. from Harvard University.