Fenulla Jiwani

Fenulla Jiwani is an award winning actress, screenwriter, playwright, producer & singer/songwriter. From humble beginnings her parents immigrated to Canada from Uganda with just pennies in their pockets in hopes for a better life. Fenulla was born in Toronto and her passion and desire for the performing arts began with her first performance at the age of five in a ballet recital. She built on early experiences during her elementary and high school years when she participated in, and choreographed, local community variety shows. Her interests and talents continued to diversify into many areas and her vision to create her own original work intensified. It was not until after she completed a Bachelor of Education concurrently with a Bachelor of Arts in Specialized Honors Psychology that she pursued her passion for performing and writing. She trained at the Randolph Academy for the Performing Arts and graduated in 2004. Since graduating, Fenulla launched FenStar Productions to create compelling stories that touch the human spirit, expressed through multidisciplinary mediums, and cast ethnically diverse performers. She wrote, produced and starred in 6 theatrical productions. After 10 years of producing theatre, Fenulla transitioned into filmmaking and was honoured to be the recipient of the 2014 Cayle Chernin Award given to an emerging female filmmaker. Her first short film, 'NOBODY' won Best Film at the 2014 International Film Festival of Spirituality, Visionary in Indonesia (and received five other awards). Fenulla has also self-produced/written additional short films while writing feature films. All her films are inspired by themes of self-discovery, search for true peace, happiness and the power of love.