Mayana Films was founded in 2022 by Zorana Mušikić and May Odeh in Berlin. Both had previously collaborated by co-producing the short film “Maradona’s Legs” in 2019 by Palestinian director Firas Khoury. Having experienced an extremely fruitful collaboration and a mutual love for strong voices who portray current topics and inspire social change, they created Mayana Films as a hub for intriguing stories in the framework of independent international cinema.
The young company focuses on author-driven stories, fiction, documentary as well as hybrid formats, with a strong artistic vision and impactful social relevance. The idea of collaborative work and mutual care is a core value of their approach, empowering diverse voices in their projects and nurturing the relationships they build along the way.
Mayana Films recent success includes Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke’s “A Useful Ghost,” premiering at the 2025 Semaine de la Critique, and Morad Mostafa’s “Aisha Can’t Fly Away,” which will debut in Un Certain Regard at this years Cannes Film Festival.
Zorana Mušikić’s producing experience with her former company schaf oder scharf film dates back to 2009, when she produced the feature documentary “Ruhr” by American avant-garde film maker James Benning, a co-production with German TV (3sat / ZDF). Her films have screened at Rotterdam, TIFF, Buenos Aires, Warsaw, and Viennale, and sold to Canal+, Netflix, and Rai Cinema.
May Odeh’s first fiction feature as a producer was “200 Meters” by Ameen Nayfeh, that debuted in the Venice Days Competition, received the Variety Middle East and North African Region Talent Award at the EI Gouna Film Festival and got more than 25 awards worldwide. Her second feature “Hanging Gardens” by lraqi director Ahmed AI-Daradji has premiered at Venice Film Festival in 2022, won several international awards and was selected as lraq’s entry for the Oscars 2023.