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Tonia is a Cypriot writer/director and producer whose work focuses on social and women’s issues. She is a member of the Hellenic Film Academy, the European Film Academy and the European Women's Audiovisual Network. She is Berlinale Talents and EFP ‘Producers on the move’ alumna and Oxbelly Screenwriters Lab fellow (Oxbelly was formerly run in collaboration with Sundance Institute). She served 8 years as co-artistic director of Cyprus Film Days International Festival and 5 years as vice president and board member of the Directors Guild of Cyprus. She has been on several film festival juries (Karlovy Vary, Thessaloniki, Tirana, Pöff shorts, Off Camera, ISFFC), a creative advisor at Rawi Screenwriters Lab (formerly run in collaboration with Sundance Institute) and a script reader for the Greek Film Centre.

Tonia’s short films, DEAD END (2013), LULLABY OF THE BUTTERFLY (2014), I DON’T LIKE THE WIND I LIKE THE SUN (2020) and DAPHNE (2022) have been officially selected in more than 100 international film festivals, including prestigious and A-list ones (incl. Locarno, Clermont-Ferrand, Palm Springs, Pöff Shorts, Cinemed, Stockholm, Encounters, Busan, Drama, Cork, Sarajevo) winning several awards. DEAD END is represented by SND Films (NL) and has been sold to Asia, USA and Europe, while DAPHNE is represented by Radiator Sales (BE).

Her directorial debut, PAUSE (2018), which she also produced, is represented by Film Republic (UK) and has participated in cocoPITCH 2015 and in Karlovy Vary WIP 2017. It has been officially selected in more than 80 international film festivals, including Santa Barbara and Seattle as well as many FIAPF accredited 'A' list festivals, like Karlovy Vary, Cairo, Stockholm, Sofia, Kitzbuhel, Transilvania and Sydney, the latter at which it was selected for the European Film Promotion section "Europe! voices of women in film” as one of ten films by Europe's ten most outstanding women directors. PAUSE received rave reviews internationally from the trades and other established media, including the Hollywood Reporter and LA times, and was listed one of "20 most daring films of 2019” by Rotten Tomatoes. PAUSE received 13 awards including the FIPRESCI Prize at the Thessaloniki International Film Festival and Best Film by the Greek Film Critics Association at the Panorama of European Cinema. It has been nominated for “Best First-time Director” and “Best Actress” at the Hellenic Film Academy Iris Awards 2019, while its screenplay is listed in the core collection of the Margaret Herrick Library of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. It has been released theatrically in USA and Europe, distributed in Asia, while streaming on major platforms including Amazon Prime USA and HBO Europe. 

Tonia is now developing several short and feature film projects under her production label Bark Like A Cat Films, which she launched in 2020 with the aim to support her own directing projects as well as daring films by fellow filmmakers. The features she is developing have been funded by Creative Europe MEDIA while all of the company’s projects have been funded by the Cyprus Deputy Ministry of Culture and developed through and awarded at major markets and workshops (Crossroads, Coco, MFI, TFL, Torino Short Film Market, Euroconnection, Meetings on the bridge, Sofia Meetings, Cinemed Meetings, Midpoint, First Films First, Oxbelly, European Genre Forum, Karlovy Vary WIP, dot.on.the.map). The first feature she produced under Bark like a cat films, “SMARAGDA, I GOT THICK SKIN AND I CAN’T JUMP”, had its world premiere at the FIAPF accredited A-list Tallinn Black Nights IFF, while the company’s first short, “DAPHNE”, won many awards and was selected for many high-end film festivals, like Clermont-Ferrand, Cinemed, Drama, Stockholm and Pöff shorts.

FILMOGRAPHY (AS WRITER/DIRECTOR/PRODUCER) 

Completed

“DAPHNE” (2022) | 18 min. | Cyprus/Greece | drama | dir. Tonia Mishiali | prod. Bark Like A Cat Films | co-prod. White Balance, Caretta films, Master & Slave, Fullmoon productions | (festivals: Pöff, Clermont-Ferrand, Cinemed, Stockholm, Raindance, Drama, ISFFC | winner of 9 awards incl. Best Director, Best film & Best actress)

“PERHAPS I AM ALREADY DEAD” (2021) | 3min | Cyprus | experimental | dir. Tonia Mishiali | prod. Bark Like A Cat Films | (DIY lockdown film)

"I DON'T LIKE THE WIND, I LIKE THE SUN" (2020) | 24min | Cyprus | documentary | dir. Tonia Mishiali | prod. Bark Like A Cat Films | (festivals: Tirana, Drama, Atlanta, Raindance, ISFFC | Winner of Best Director award)

“I CAN HEAR MY FOOTSTEPS” (2020) | 3 min. | Cyprus | experimental | dir. Tonia Mishiali | prod. Bark Like A Cat Films | (DIY lockdown film)

“PAUSE” (2018) | 96min | Cyprus/Greece | drama | dir. Tonia Mishiali | prod. A.B. Seahorse Film Productions | co-prod. Soul Productions | (festivals: Karlovy Vary, Cairo, Santa Barbara, Seattle, Sydney, Stockholm, Kitzbuehel, Tirana, Transilvania, Sofia, Glasgow | winner of 13 awards incl. FIPRESCI, Best Director, Best Film & Best Actress | markets: coco, Karlovy Vary WIP)

“LULLABY OF THE BUTTERFLY” (2014) | 20min | Cyprus | drama | dir. Tonia Mishiali | (festivals: Sarajevo, Dresden, Leiden, Clare Valley, Split, Tangiers, ISFFC, Drama | Winner of Best film & Best Cinematography awards)

“DEAD END” (2013) | 15min | Cyprus | drama | dir. Tonia Mishiali | (festivals: Locarno, Palm Springs, Busan, Cork, Encounters, Curta cinema, Leuven, Tangiers, Drama, ISFFC | winner of 5 awards for Best film & Best director)

In pre-production

“NALA AND STELLA” | feature | Cyprus/Luxembourg/Greece | drama | dir. Tonia Mishiali | prod. Bark Like A Cat Films, Iris Productions, Avaton Films | (markets: Crossroads | Creative Europe MEDIA dev. Funding)

In development

“MAYA” | feature | Cyprus/Italy/Ireland/Germany | fantasy/drama | dir. Tonia Mishiali | prod. Bark Like A Cat Films | co-prod. Hive Division, Cowtown Pictures, Fiction Park | (markets: Sources2, MFI, TFL Next, Meetings on the bridge, Oxbelly, Screenwriters Guild of Greece competition, Sofia meetings | winner of Best pitch award & Special mention for Best script)

FILMOGRAPHY (AS PRODUCER)

Completed

“SMARAGDA - I GOT THICK SKIN AND I CAN’T JUMP” (2024) | 99 min. | Cyprus | drama | dir. Emilios Avraam | prod. Bark Like A Cat Films | (festivals: Tallinn Black Nights, OFF Camera, Cyprus Film Days, markets: coco, dot.on.the.map, First films first, TFL Extended | Creative Europe MEDIA Funding)

"FIND ME FALLING" (2024) | feature | Cyprus/USA | romantic comedy | dir. Stelana Kliris | prod. Meraki Films | Tonia as independent development producer | (Netflix Original)

“IMAN” (2022) | 90min | Cyprus | drama | dir. Kyriakos Tofarides & Corinna Avraamidou | prod. A.B. Seahorse Film Productions | Tonia as independent development producer | (festivals: Sofia, Thessaloniki | Winner of 7 awards including. Best film, Best director & Best actress)

“SENIOR CITIZEN“ (2020) | 84 min. | Cyprus | drama | dir. Marinos Kartikkis | prod. A.B. Seahorse Film Productions | (festivals: Shanghai, Thessaloniki, Dhaka, Cyprus Film Days | Winner of 25 awards for Best film, Best director & Best actor)

“TO THE MOON AND BACK” (2018) | 10 min. | Cyprus | drama | dir. Stelana Kliris | prod. Meraki Films | (festivals: Drama, ISFFC | Winner of Best director award)

“THE MAGIC BEANS” (2015) | 101 min. | Cyprus |  comedy | dir. Theodoros Panayides | (festivals: Comedy Cluj)

“FAMILY MEMBER” (2015) | 100 min. | Cyprus | drama | dir. Marinos Kartikkis | (festivals: Thessaloniki, Bogota, Cyprus Film Days)

In post-production

“SEA OF GLASS” | feature | Greece/Bulgaria/Cyprus | drama | dir. Alexis Alexiou | prod. Tugo Tugo | co-prod. Portokal, Bark Like A Cat Films | (markets: MIA market, European Works in progress Cologne | winner of post-production award | Creative Europe MEDIA & Eurimages funding)

“CYPRUS SOIL MAFIA” | short | Cyprus | mockumentary | dir. Paris Erotokritou | prod. Bark Like A Cat Films | co-prod. Zedem Media, Coffee Films, Make it Studios, Movies & Stories | (markets: Torino Short film market, Euroconnection, Screenwriters Guild of Greece | winner of Best script)

In production

“THE WOMEN OF 1922” | feature | Greece/Cyprus | animation documentary | dir. Aris Kaplanides and Ilias Roumeliotis | prod. Soul Productions | co-prod. Bark Like A Cat Films | (markets: Thessaloniki pitching forum)

In pre-production

“PAINT ME A LIE” | short | Cyprus/UK/Sardinia | drama | dir. Antony Petrou | prod. Bark Like A Cat Films | co-prod. Eleven Little Films, Zena Film | (markets: Balkan short film punch, Euroconnection)

In development

“SHIBBOLETH” | feature | Cyprus/Greece/France | drama | dir. Alexandra Matheou | prod. Bark Like A Cat Films | co-prod. Homemade Films, La Cellule Productions | (markets: First films first, MFI, Oxbelly, dot.on.the.map, IPDF, Cinemed Meetings, Crossroads | Winner of 3 Best pitch awards & 1 special mention | Creative Europe MEDIA Funding)

“BOYS OF SUMMER” | feature | Cyprus/TBC | drama | dir. Emilios Avraam | prod. Boycott Films, Bark Like A Cat Films | (markets: MFI)