Ep 36: "We can't wait for permission to create things!" Award winning actress and filmmaker Sonja O'Hara

Sonja O'Hara is a multi award winning actress and filmmaker. She is a proud member of AEA and SAG-AFTRA. Sonja was featured as one of INDEPENDENT Magazine's “10 Filmmakers to Watch in 2017”, chosen by a jury from MovieMaker Magazine, the Sundance Institute and Austin Film Festival. Sonja created and stars in the series DOOMSDAY (The Spectator's "7 Series To Binge Watch."), which qualified for the 2017 Emmy award and was nominated for "Best Indie Series" at the Streamy Awards. Sonja was also awarded the prestigious “Best Director” prize at The New York Television Festival out of 4000 pilot submissions. She is a four time semi finalist for the Sundance Labs. Sonja has been featured on panels at SXSW, SeriesFest, The BAFTA's, HBO's ITVFest, NYU Tisch, and The Nordic Film Festival.

As an actress, Sonja was awarded the Indie Soul Special Recognition Award at the Boston International Film Festival for her lead role in the feature film OVUM (“Best Picture” at The Big Apple Film Festival) which she also wrote and produced. The film was released this spring by Sony's The Orchard and can be watched On Demand or on iTunes here. It will be re-released by the prestigious Tribeca Shortlist in the spring of 2018. Sonja can also be seen playing Lauren in the feature film CREATIVE CONTROL (opposite Nora Zehetner of IFC's MARON) which won the Grand Jury Prize at SXSW Film Festival and was released internationally by Magnolia Films & Amazon.

Sonja is originally from a fishing village in Nova Scotia, Canada. She attended Marymount Manhattan College and is a graduate of the two-year Meisner acting program at the New York Conservatory For Dramatic Arts.

As a filmmaker, her work has been hailed as, “deeply unsettling” (Splash Report), “provocative” (After Ellen), and “whip smart” (Rogue Cinema). Like Brit Marling and Greta Gerwig before her, Sonja is committed to creating diverse and female-driven boundary pushing content.

"One of the many things I love about my recurring gig as a moderator for SAG-AFTRA Foundation Q&As, like my recent chat with Jessica Chastain, is getting to meet up-and-coming actors...One such rising star, Sonja O’Hara — like Chastain, a wildly talented redhead — breaks out this week in two newly released movies."
-Bruce Fretts/ The New York Times

"O'Hara is as smart and funny as she is attractive with a real knack for writing that’s sure to get her discovered sooner rather than later."
ComingSoon.net

You can view her work here: https://www.sonjaohara.com/reel

Speaking to Sonja was truly inspirational.

Also, you can check out my documentary The People of Brixton, on Kwelitv here: www.kweli.tv/programs/the-peopl…xton?autoplay=true

Damien Swaby Social Media Links:

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I love iPhone filmmaking, my latest short film shot on one, you can view it here! vimeo.com/348228831