Stelana is a South African Cypriot writer/director/producer with a background in production on international film and commercial productions in Greece and Cyprus. She recently released her second feature FIND ME FALLING starring Harry Connick Jr, which she wrote, directed and produced. This was a USA-Cyprus co-production and the biggest local feature ever to be shot in Cyprus, which then sold world rights to Netflix, becoming the first ever Cypriot film to screen on this platform and took the #1 spot on Netflix’s Global Top Ten list after just 4 days and held this position for 2 weeks. Her first feature, COMMITTED, was distributed internationally and optioned for Hollywood and German remakes. She also produced award-winning director Tonia Mishiali’s debut feature film PAUSE which premiered at the 2018 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and has received multiple awards since. She is currently developing several new projects under her production company Meraki Films, including her next feature APART FROM HER starring Leem Lubany and Luke Pasqualino, Yianna Americanou’s second feature MY NAME IS LILY and the series UNEXPECTED which participated in the 2019 Midpoint TV Launch Programme, won Best Pilot Script at the 2022 Owl Screenwriting Workshop and was selected for the Netflix-backed EWA Series Accelerator Programme. She is a member of the European Women’s Audiovisual Network (EWA) and the Directors Guild of Cyprus, as well as a graduate of the 2018 EAVE Producers Workshop and was selected as one of EFP’s Producers on the Move in 2023.
Selected filmography:
2024 Find Me Falling / Feature / Writer – Director – Producer
USA-Cyprus co-production starring Harry Connick Jr, Agni Scott and Ali Fumiko Whitney Global distribution by NETFLIX
2018 Pause / Feature / Producer (Cyprus-Greece co-production) Director: Tonia Mishiali
World premiere at 2018 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival “East of the West”
Awarded the FIPRESCI and the ERT Award for best Greek Film at the 2018 Thessaloniki Intl Film Festival
2018 To the Moon and Back / Short Film / Writer – Director – Producer
World premiere at 2018 Drama International Short Film Festival
Awarded 2nd prize for Best Film in the National Competition at the 2018 Intl Short Film Festival of Cyprus
2014 Committed / Feature / Writer – Director – Producer
Distributed commercially and optioned for Hollywood and German remakes
2009 The Fiddler / Short Film / Writer – Director – Producer
Greeks of the World Award at the 2011 Drama Intl Short Film Festival