Hannaj Bang Bendz

In 2008, Hannaj studied "Scriptwriting for Film and Television" at Bournemouth University, and in 2012, she graduated with a BA (Hons) in Animation Film Production from The Arts University at Bournemouth (AUB).

In 2013, she starred in her first Professional Theatre Production, "Dorian Gray" at The Lighthouse Theatre in Poole, and was cast in Docudrama "Black Ops: Operation Firemagic" directly after - which aired on both American Netflix and the History Channel.

In 2017, Hannaj's performance as Julia in 'The Man Up The Stairs' secured several Best Actress awards across various festivals, most notably the LA Film Festival. In 2018, the short film "A Still Sunrise" premiered at Cannes Film Festival, in the 'Short Film Catalogue Corner', and shortly afterwards she featured as the lead role of Keeley Jones in popular small series "Seaside Town" (Amazon Prime, 2018) as well as "Glamour" (Amazon Prime, 2020).

"3 Pints and a Rabbi" a dark comedy feature, playing opposite Amanda Abbington and Michael Maloney, and "God's Whisper" a Biblical Vampire short, were releases in 2021. Hannaj has also written and produced fan-film "Salvaje", and dark psychological feature "Jax".

Hannaj has a passion for Mixed Martial Arts, in the forms of Kickboxing, Kali and Muay Thai and is a Purple Belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu - winning Blue Belt Open Weight division at the Masters European Championship (2023). She has had some training in Taekwondo, Kung Fu and Bo-Staff, as well as live fire-arms.