Jean Barker
Born and raised in South Africa, where she has unshakable roots and often returns, she left a successful career as a journalist and columnist in Cape Town to pursue her filmmaking dreams, winning a DGA Award for her MFA thesis short starring John Heard, among other accolades for shorts, music videos, and screenplays. Her debut feature, "NOBODY LEAVES 'til Jesus Comes" (not a religious film) debuted at Dances With Films, LA '24. She’s worked as a writer/director on shorts, and a game, and published her afro-futuristic graphic novel ZANA: Book One. She has various features, shorts, a novel, and other projects in the works, including the Page Awards Finalist historical feature WAKING A QUEEN, set in South Africa.
