Mariana is a creative visualist who loves to tell stories and draws inspiration from her everyday life, the little often overlooked moments. Born and raised just outside of Toronto to Croatian parents, Mariana graduated from the Sheridan College Film and Television program in Oakville, Ontario. Afterwards she explored her visual style directing music videos and as a set decorator in commercials and independent films. In 2011 she decided to make Berlin her home base and fully focus on writing and directing. After two successful short films (‘Bruises. Cake. & Cigarettes.’ screened internationally and was awarded Best Short at the 2012 Short Soup Film Festival in Sydney.) and other creative ventures, she developed her first feature length screenplay, ‘Chasing Paper Birds’.