Biography

Maya Albanese is an award-winning writer-director known for surreal storytelling that jump-starts a social dialogue. She has directed films, documentaries and commercials for 10+ years on five continents in English, French and Spanish.

In 2023, her fantasy horror short, "The Ringmaster," premiered at Paris International Film Festival where she took home the BEST DIRECTOR AWARD. It opened the inaugural edition of Paris in the Dark Film Festival and played in the Diversity in Cannes Short Film Showcase at the 76th Festival de Cannes. It went on to win the DIRECTORS PRIZE for Artistic Vision & Execution at FilmQuest, in addition to receiving five award nominations for Best Costumes, Best Supporting Actor, Best Score and Maya for the "Minerva Award" celebrating female directors breaking barriers in genre filmmaking.

In 2021, Maya won the EMERGING DIRECTOR AWARD at LA Diversity Film Festival and was nominated for Best Director. Her commercial, "The Gift of Joy," won an Emmy, and "Giveaway" won the Gold Award at the American Advertising Awards.

In 2020, her fantasy comedy short, "Freeze," won BEST SHORT and BEST ACTRESS at its premiere at SeriesFest and played 45 festivals worldwide. It was one of few shorts picked up by Oscilloscope for sales to HBO, ARGO, and other European outlets.

In 2018, Maya was awarded the inaugural Commercial Directors Diversity Program Fellowship by the Directors Guild of America, the BADGE OF HONOR for Rising Female Filmmaker by Shoot Magazine, and "Best New Work of 2018" for her commercial, "History."

Maya holds a Masters in Documentary Filmmaking from Columbia University, and Bachelors of Arts Summa Cum Laude in International Studies and French from the University of California at Santa Barbara and l'Institut Catholique de Paris.
- IMDb mini biography by: Maya Albanese