Manna is a documentary filmmaker with a strong desire to explore and understand the world around her. She uses film as a tool to capture this process, and hopes to contribute to a more understanding and empathic world with her work. People often tell her jokingly to be ‘less Dutch’, but she prefers to see her straightforwardness and honesty as her strength in filmmaking.
After completing the 4-year Bachelor program in Audiovisual Media at the University of the Arts Utrecht (HKU) in 2021, she got accepted to the DocNomads Masters Course in Documentary Filmmaking with an Erasmus Mundus scholarship. She is currently in her second and final year of DocNomads, studying and living in Brussels, after having completed the first year of the program in Lisbon and Budapest.
In her work, Manna touches upon subjects that are often personal yet universal at the same time. By working mostly autonomous, which means directing, filming and editing her own films, she stays close to her subject and creates intimate films. Topics that she is passionate about include youth & mental health, family and multiculturalism. Her curiosity and critical view lead to films that aim to provide new perspectives, to both the viewer and herself. An eagerness to experiment with different aesthetic and narrative approaches results in an ongoing journey within documentary filmmaking.