Mariana is a writer and director based in Berlin. As a daughter to migrants in Canada, she grew up within the Croatian diaspora. After film school in Canada she explored her visual style directing music videos and as a set decorator in commercials and independent films, before deciding to fully focus on writing and directing. The underlying themes and storylines of her first feature length film, ‘Chasing Paper Birds’ were infused by her experiences working amidst the Toronto and Berlin nightlife scenes and co-running an after hour club.
Mariana is a recent alumni of the international series writer’s room training program SERIAL EYES at the DFFB in Berlin, where she developed the concept and wrote the pilot for the supernatural folk horror series ‘UNDER THE WHITE TREE’. Having grown up watching horror films and surrounded by myth and superstition, has certainly played a role in her passion for telling dark and scary stories. She is currently developing films and series with a focus on genres such as thriller, mystery and horror but also co-developing on projects with a lighter touch.