Pia Marais
Professor of fictional narrative / feature film directing
+49 211 20189 - 323pia.marais@khm.de
Heumarkt 14
Pia Marais, born in Johannesburg as daughter of a South African actor and Swedish woman, grew up in South Africa, Sweden and Spain. She first studied sculpture and photography in London, Amsterdam and at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf and then film directing at the German Film and Television Academy Berlin (DFFB). In 2007 Marais produced her feature-length directorial debut with the autobiographically inspired “Die Unerzogenen”. The film received several awards, including the “Tiger Award” at Rotterdam film festival in 2007. She presented her second full-length feature film “Im Alter von Ellen” in the autumn of 2010 at Filmfest Hamburg. In 2013 her third full-length feature film “Layla Fourie” was invited to enter the Berlinale competition and was awarded with a special mention from the jury. The film also received the Arte Cinema Award at the International Film Festival Rotterdam. Pia Marais became a professor at the KHM in April 2017.
Selected films by Pia Marais:
- “Die Unerzogenen” (2007, feature film, 95 min., director and script) awarded with dem Preis der deutschen Filmkritik 2007, Crossing Europe Award – Best Fiction Film 2007, Tiger Award at IFF Rotterdam 2007;
- “Im Alter von Ellen” (2010, feature film, 95 min., director and script) awarded with the Crossing Europe Award – Best Fiction Film 2011 and the prize for the best script at Kinofest Lünen 2010
- “Layla Fourie“ (2013, feature film, 105 min., director and script) awarded with a special mention at the Berlinale competition in 2013 and the Arte Cinema Development Award at International Film Festival Rotterdam
- “So auf Erden” (2017, television film, 88 min., co-author); “Secret Boy” (2018, feature film in development)
