Mariella Santibáñez is a German-Chilean filmmaker of fictional and documentary films based in Berlin. She studied film production at the University of Television and Film Munich and film directing at the Universidad del Cine in Buenos Aires.

 

During her studies at the University of Television and Film Munich, Mariella produced several award-winning short films, including the documentary short FIND FIX FINISH, which was screened at festivals such as San Sebastián, Melbourne, and Vancouver, as well as at the MoMA in New York City. Overall, her films have been presented at over 150 film festivals. Additionally, she produced the fictional short film REINA, which was co-produced with the German-French television network ARTE and the Bavarian Broadcasting (BR), and funded by the FilmFernsehFonds Bayern. REINA was nominated for the Mexican Film Award ARIEL 2022.

 

From 2017 to 2018, Mariella received a DAAD scholarship to study at the Universidad del Cine in Buenos Aires, where she specialized in directing and screenwriting. There, she directed the short film TRÁMITE, which was shown at over 40 international film festivals. Her documentary THE FATHER’S SILENCE, which she also directed, was nominated for the CIVIS – European Media Prize 2024. NEW BEGINNING is Mariella’s graduation film from HFF Munich, where she served as director, and it premiered at the Max Ophüls Film Festival in 2023. From 2021 to 2025, Mariella worked as a producer at the production company X Filme Creative Pool, where she produced the historical drama series HOUSE OF PROMISES and the internationally co-produced drama series OTHER PEOPLE’S MONEY. OTHER PEOPLE’S MONEY had its world premiere in the Panorama section of the 2025 Berlin Film Festival. In April 2025, the documentary SACHSENHAUSEN – THE CHILDREN OF SURVIVORS, produced and directed by Mariella, will be broadcast on RBB.

 

Before pursuing her film studies, Mariella earned a Bachelor of Science in Political Economics from the Free University of Berlin, with additional studies at HEC Lausanne. She also studied Hebrew at Tel Aviv University and completed an internship at the German-Israeli Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Tel Aviv.

 

Mariella is interested in telling character driven stories about the complexity, insecurity and contradictory nature of people, told in an authentic and entertaining way.