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Tanya Zora aspires to direct films, but unexpected, tragic events nearly 10 years earlier put her in a leading role she would rather forget.
In seventh grade, several classmates told her they wished she would suffer the same fate as those who lost their lives in the September 2001 terrorist attacks. The constant ridicule and stares cut deep.
She renounced her culture. She stopped speaking Arabic. She says she kept a low profile.
“You never notice that you’re different until you’re put on the spot,” says Zora, who was born in Baghdad, Iraq, and later immigrated with her family to Detroit in 1993.
But the turning point occurred during her freshman year at U-M. She became friends with students from different ethnic backgrounds, and those interactions surprisingly rekindled her pride in her culture.
Years later, she joined Zeta Sigma Chi Multicultural Sorority and the Global Scholars Program, a North Quad living-learning community that engages both U.S. and international students. She is among the first cohort to graduate from the program, which is in its second year.
GSP director Jennifer Yim said Zora’s involvement in the program exposed her to many perspectives and allowed her to develop empathy-building skills with persons of vastly different backgrounds.
Tanya Zora hopes to use filmmaking to inspire other women to enter the professional world. Photo by Jared Wadley, News Service.
“I am proud of Tanya in what she has achieved thus far and expect that she will take her liberal arts education and critical thinking skills to the film industry and beyond, to the benefit of many communities,” Yim says.
Zora, 22, plans to use her life experiences and passion for filmmaking to mentor Middle Eastern and Arab women as they pursue their education.
“I would like to use filmmaking as a means to inspire women to get motivated to compete in the professional world,” said Zora, who graduates this spring with a double major in screen arts & culture, and Near Eastern studies.
She has worked on several films, as well as directed and co-produced one titled “Patzer.” She interned for the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and United Artists film “Red Dawn” and the Lionsgate film “LOL.”
“Everything about the creative process allows me to not only express myself but also to develop my leadership and business skills,” she said.
After graduation, Zora will pursue freelance film jobs in Los Angeles. One of her goals is to create films that show Middle Eastern women as strong individuals, not subservient.
