background
Alana Waksman (she/her) is an Ashkenazi writer, director, and first generation descendant of Holocaust survivors from Poland. She is an alum of the USC School of Cinematic Arts MFA in Film & Television Production. As an actor, she trained at Shakespeare & Company, Berkshire Theater Festival, St. Petersburg Dramatic Arts Academy in Russia, and The O'Neill National Theater Institute where she studied under Emmy award-winning actor Colman Domingo (EUPHORIA).
WE BURN LIKE THIS, Alana's debut feature, stars Madeleine Coghlan (THE ROOKIE) and Devery Jacobs (RESERVATION DOGS) and is executive produced by Emmy and Peabody award-winning producer Neda Armian (RACHEL GETTING MARRIED). The film premiered at the 2021 Santa Barbara International Film Festival, internationally at Deauville American Film Festival, and has played at 31 festivals and garnered 10 awards. The film was released in theaters and on VOD in June 2022, and is currently available to stream in North America, the UK, France, Scandinavia, and South Korea, and Latin America.
FOREGROUND
Alana is in production for her debut documentary, VARIOUS WAYS TO CRY AND YELL, a personal short film about Jewish identity also executive produced by Neda Armian. Her sophomore fiction feature SHE FALLS LIKE WATER was a semi-finalist at the 2022 Austin Film Festival Screenplay Competition, a semi-finalist at the Almanac Screenwriters Colony, and a finalist at the Mammoth Lakes Film Festival Screenplay Competition.
Alana is drawn to tell stories of intergenerational trauma for the purpose of healing.
She is currently based in Los Angeles.
On set for We Burn Like This. Photo by Justin Reichert. July 2019, Billings, Montana.
We Burn Like This World Premiere - Santa Barbara International Film Festival. April 7, 2021, Santa Barbara, CA.
We Burn Like This International Premiere - In Competition at Deauville Festival Du Cinéma Américain. September 9, 2021, Normandy, France.