Jessica Hanna

Jessica Phoebe Ehab Hanna is an actress, writer and director, born in Australia from Egyptian parents. Jessica holds a Masters of Psychological Science and turned to the Arts in rebellion upon graduation, creating her own body of work, including Regime, which she wrote and directed, exploring the war in Syria through the eyes of a young Syrian woman. It was selected as a finalist for Tropfest in 2018, and won Best Drama film in the 2019 AACTA awards short film competition. In addition, Jessica wrote and first AD’d the award-winning film My Name is Mohamad and Raghad, which was selected for Oscar-qualifying film festivals including St Kilda Film Festival and has won several awards for best film and nominations for best screenplay. Both films show Jessica's interest in pushing audiences to think deeply about issues that matter. Jessica has a special interest in stories with a strong female protagonist and stories about minorities, including CALD, disabilities, and North African/middle eastern characters.