Arisa Chirawu

Arisa Chirawu was born and raised in Windhoek, Namibia. She grew up as a dancer and was a ballerina in Cecchetti Ballet until the age of 16 when she retired. Chirawu fell in love with acting at the age of six when she was cast in a school play. She would go on to act in several school plays. She was cast in the role of Sarabi in her middle school play of The Lion King which she performed at the National Theatre of Namibia. Arisa moved to Toronto, Ontario in grade 10 to finish high school. She graduated as Class Valedictorian. She went on to study Film Studies at Ryerson University's School of Image Arts. During her studies, she continued to study acting at acting schools in Toronto. She acted in films made by her classmates in film school including her own thesis film, 'Dinner with The French', which she wrote and co-directed in her final year.