Biography

Arawinda Kirana is an actress, director and producer based in Los Angeles. Her titular performance in the TIFF Platform Prize-winning feature YUNI is critically acclaimed by festival critics, Criterion, and Variety quotes "Excellent. Performed with an unfussy and convincing naturalism". YUNI was Letterboxd's third highest rated film in 2021. Arawinda has worked professionally in television, film, theatre and commercials for 16 years.

Currently, Arawinda is co-executive producing IBU, debut feature film of photographer Kanya Iwana, as well as producing Love You Too, a short film set to be directed by Joy Thompson and Emma Purro (Pearl). Arawinda is in early development of her own feature directorial debut, DEF(R)AMED, which follows a young artist navigating "love", power dynamics and assault in the limelight of public scrutiny and an unjust Indonesian legal system.

Arawinda studied Film & Television Production at USC with a scholarship directly from the School of Cinematic Arts. As a filmmaker, she began by making environmental documentaries in rural areas of Indonesia, before transitioning into narrative storytelling grounded in true-life phenomena in the country. Arawinda founded the viral #BerkainBersama movement in Indonesia, which sparked a cultural artistic revolution, reaching more than 700M engagement across all social media platforms.
- IMDb mini biography by: Arawinda Kirana

She credits one of her most unforgettable moments as when Giuseppe Tornatore personally awarded her the Silver Yusr for Best Actress in Red Sea International Film Festival, and gave her a warm commendation for her performance in YUNI (2021).

She worked as an English translator and Video Editor during her high school years, while dabbling being President of the Student Council, and member of the Model United Nations and debate teams.

Along with her youth organization, she started several viral cultural trends in Indonesia including #BerkainBersama.

She has played two titular lead roles, Yuni and Nurbaya, both of which are characters who were forced to arranged marriage, and ultimately ended up being symbols of empowerment.

She studies Film & Television Production at the University of Southern California - School of Cinematic Arts, with a scholarship directly under the university.