Pia Marais

Pia Marais

Pia Marais born in Johannesburg, South Africa to a Swedish mother and South African father. She initially studied Art in London, Amsterdam and finally the Kunstakademie in Düsseldorf before going on to study film in Berlin at the DFFB.

She has written and directed 4 feature films. Her feature debut The Unpolished won the Tiger Award at the Rotterdam Film Festival in 2007. At Ellen’s Age screened in Competition in Locarno in 2010, and in more than 40 festivals, including Toronto and New Directors, New Films (Moma). Layla Fourie was set in her home country South Africa and premiered in Competition at the 2013 Berlinale, receiving a Special Jury Mention. In 2018, she made her first documentary Cari Compagni (Dear Comrades) for Arte.

Transamazonia is her fourth feature film and premiered in Competition in Locarno, and had it’s US premiere at the New York Film Festival’s Main Slate.

Since 2017, she is a Professor for Film at the Academy of Media Arts, Cologne