SHIRAH DEDMAN is a filmmaker, lawyer and activist. From dropping out of high school at 15-years-old to becoming a licensed attorney by 23, she inexplicably found herself consistently un- and under-employed. So after her last layoff, she decided to relentlessly pursue her true passion: socially impactful storytelling. Her short narrative, LET HER IN (2016) was an Official Selection of the Rock N Roll Film Festival Kenya, FECIBogotá, and Stori Ya Wengi Environmental Film Fest. Her short documentary, YOU A NOMAD (2017), which was inspired by her own nomadic life, received development support from the Cucalorus Film Festival Work-In-Progress program and was licensed for broadcast by Free Speech TV. Also in 2017, Shirah was featured in UPROOTED, a short film by the Equal Justice Initiative & Google documenting her family’s return to the site of her great-grandfather's lynching.
In 2019, Shirah was elected by member of KPFA Radio to the Local Station Board, and was elected to represent KPFA on the Programming Committee of the Pacifica Foundation, a progressive radio network. She completed her first feature film (FOLLOW THE DRINKING GOURD), and inspired by its topic, Shirah went back to school. Shirah expects to receive her masters in Agricultural & Food Law from the University of Arkansas in Spring 2020.