Zanah Thirus

Zanah is an actress, producer, writer, and director from Chicago IL. After being homeschooled until she was fourteen years old, she began her college career. Her love for filmmaking sparked after year ...Show More

Zanah is an actress, producer, writer, and director from Chicago IL. After being homeschooled until she was fourteen years old, she began her college career. Her love for filmmaking sparked after years of acting in a drama team, and various independent films. She received her master's degree in cinema production from DePaul University at the age of twenty two, and began her career in independent filmmaking and content production in 2015.In 2016, Zanah won Best Female Director for her short film "Hourglass" at the Cineplay Film Awards. Her festival credits as a filmmaker include Official Selection - Chhatrapati Shivaji International Film Festival (2016), Best Student Documentary - London Independent Film Awards (2017), Semi Finalist at The German United Film Festival (2018), and a Finalist at Cinema Los Angeles Film Festival (2018).Since launching her brand, Zanah Thirus Productions LLC, Zanah has shifted her focus to merging arts and activism though documentary and narrative storytelling. Her films surround subjects such as gender, race, politics, and mental health. In 2019, her feature documentary- Black Feminist - was an official selection at the Bronze Lens Festival of Atlanta. That same year her short film, Demons, was nominated for Best Short Film at the Content Creators of Atlanta Awards, and her short film MeMaw landed her a Best Director nomination at the Georgia Shorts Film Festival.Shortly after her most decorated year, Zanah was named one of Diversity in Cannes Top 10 Filmmakers of the Decade. Hide