Welcome to the team, Hannah!

We’re thrilled to welcome to the BIPOC TV & Film family, Hannah Yohannes. The director and screenwriter joined the team in May as our first-ever manager of programs. In this role, Hannah will support the expansion of BIPOC TV & Film’s professional development programming.

“Hannah brings to this role not only a high degree of professionalism but also a deep commitment to community impact, anti-racism and reconciliation,” said Kadon Douglas, Executive Director. “As an award-winning filmmaker and community champion, she brings to this role a wealth of understanding of the challenges BIPOC creatives face as they grow in their careers and an accomplished resume that spans short films to unscripted series to advocacy and arts management. It’s been a joy to work with her so far and I look forward to her contributions as we grow BIPOC TV & Film.”

MEET HANNAH

Hannah Yohannes is an Eritrean director and screenwriter who is well known for her critically-acclaimed short film, Home Away, which was featured on Issa Rae’s Short Film Sunday Series and won the Shaw Media Fearless Female Directors Award. She recently directed a CFC teaser called KIIN created by writer, Muna Deria, and is working on her next project called Crown with the phenomenal composer, Kaia Kater. Hannah studied script writing at Michigan State University and was nominated as one of 100 Accomplished Black Canadian Women by the Hon. Jean Augustine for her experience in developing film work, advocacy and arts programming.

She is a current participant of the Big Up! Producers Residency at BlackWomeninFilm! Canada and worked on a number of films & TV shows such as Global's Big Brother Canada, HBO Canada/Netflix's Hip-Hop Evolution to name a few. Just as Hannah is passionate about creating films, she is equally dedicated to her two beautiful children, Samuel and Denise, and investing in the community. She is a mentor for students at the Presenting Our Vision (POV) program, FEM Script Lab, and the #Startwith8 initiative.