Maya Wanner is an award-winning documentary filmmaker based in Chicago, where she focuses on uplifting underrepresented stories. Her primary interests include immigrant family narratives, intergenerational trauma and healing, multiracial identity, personal storytelling, and Asian American stories. Her short film, The Things I Haven’t Told You Yet, was called “a beautiful personal exorcism of familial relationships that playfully toggles a full breadth of what’s possible in the cinematic language.”
Maya is a mixed-race filmmaker who grew up outside of Cleveland, Ohio. Her body of work is predominantly personal. She draws inspiration from her own family history, her experiences as an Asian American, the transmission of memory within immigrant families, and the complexities of racial identity.
Maya has a range of experience in film including teaching, directing, and freelancing for a range of production companies. She is currently working on a number of projects as a freelance researcher, impact producer, cinematographer, sound recordist, and editor.
Maya holds an MFA in Documentary Media from Northwestern University, and a degree in English, Religion, and Film from Kalamazoo College.