Helana Sawires is an Egyptian-Australian actress, based in Sydney. Born into a large, creative family of artists and musicians, she has always lived under influence of, and in the world of the performing arts and crafts. After graduating from Newtown High School of the Performing Arts in 2011, Helana travelled for a year through Africa and Europe where she gained much of her inspiration and insight into the human condition. In 2015, she landed her first acting role as lead actress in Australian feature film Ali’s Wedding (2017) of which she received nomination for Best Lead Actress at the AACTA Awards, Australian Film Critics Association Awards, and Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards. Sawires toured nationally and internationally as lead actress in Samah Sabawi’s play Tales of a City By the Sea. Helana’s most recent work is in highly acclaimed ABC series, STATELESS and Fires, and has also made appearances in Clickbait, Pieces of Her and The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart. She is a passionate visual artist, currently in the field of ceramics, plays Egyptian tabla and is studying flamenco dancing at the Diana Reyes Flamenco Studio.