Before "Citizen Kane" and "The War of the Worlds," leading Broadway actress Rose McClendon and producer John Houseman convince a gifted but untested 20-year-old Orson Welles to direct Shakespeare’s Macbeth with an all-Black cast in Harlem. Reimagined in a Haitian setting, this revolutionary 1936 production, which came to be known as VOODOO MACBETH, would change the world forever.
Originally from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sabina Vajrača immigrated to the U.S. as a war refugee, and started her directing career in NYC theater.
Her critically-acclaimed feature documentary BACK TO BOSNIA (2005 AFI Fest / Director’s Choice, 2006 Crossroads) played at over 30 festivals worldwide, was featured in BBC’s top 100 of the greatest films directed by women, and is available on Amazon.
Since then she wrote, directed, and produced commercials, music videos, and over a dozen films including the multiple-award-winning VARIABLES, the Warner Bros./USC feature period drama VOODOO MACBETH, and, most recently, short period drama SEVAP/MITZVAH, which won the 2023 Humanitas Prize and was in consideration for the 2024 Academy® Award.
She also assisted writer/director Max Mayer on his feature drama ADAM, starring Hugh Dancy and Rose Byrne (2009 Sundance), and shadowed directors on MADAM SECRETARY and 9-1-1.
Sabina received numerous awards for her work, including the DGA SFA Grand Prize, the Alfred P. Sloan Grant, the Claims Conference Grant, and nominations for the Student Oscars and Student BAFTA.
She’s a member of Film Fatales and BAFTA, and an alumna of Ryan Murphy’s Half Directing Mentorship, Hayama Residency, Stowe Story Labs, and Almanack Screenwriters. She holds an M.F.A. in Film and TV Production from the USC School of Cinematic Arts and is repped by Zero Gravity and GGSSC.
