Born and raised in West Philadelphia, eightteen-year-old filmmaker Lanaa Dantzler uplifts the power and spirit of community in her work.
Dantzler wrote, directed, and starred in her debut short film, Five Angry Black Girls (2023), about a group of Black teenage girls in detention coming together to learn the meaning of true freedom. Five Angry Black Girls is a recipient of the Local Selection Award from the Philadelphia Youth Film Festival and the award for Best Costume Design at the 2023 Black Girls Film Camp Awards Showcase. The short was an official film selection at the iconic Essence Film Festival in 2024.
Her second film, The Jubilee Project (2023), is a short documentary about The Jubilee Publishing House in Philly, about a group of students who run their own publishing company, write books, all while being in elementary school.
Recently, Lanaa received the Best Alumni Coach Award for her participation in the production of the short film, As You Are (2024), which also received the Most Impactful Film Award at the 2024 Black Girls Film Camp Awards Showcase.