Tonia Mishiali: The Director
Text: Romina Xyda / Photos: Pavlos Vryonides
With boldness and sensitivity, she transforms cinema into a space where suppressed voices gain presence and become a universal narrative.
Tonia’s earliest memories of cinema feel like play. “I would sit on the steps of the theatre with my doll, sneaking glances at the big screen. I didn’t understand what I was watching, but the dark room, the sound, the magic of cinema captivated me.” As she grew older, one film proved decisive – Hitchcock’s Psycho. “It scared me and fascinated me at the same time. From then on, I became almost obsessed: I watched countless films, read interviews with directors and actors, and followed awards ceremonies on TV – from the Oscars to the European awards. Essentially, because I was always a dreamer, I escaped into cinema long before I even studied it.”
Despite her love for cinema, in 1990s Cyprus such a career didn’t seem realistic. She began studying hospitality management, only to realise quickly that this path wasn’t for her. “I chose courses outside the field: photography, video art, writing. It was my escape, the call to change direction.” She went on to study film and create short and feature-length films that travelled to international festivals. All of them share a common thread: women living under social constraints. “I grew up in a patriarchal society, seeing women around me living quietly on the margins, having to fight far harder than men for a place in society. It hurt me and made me angry. I wanted to do something. I wanted to say something.” And she did: in Pause, the heroine finds her own way to rebel. In The Lion at My Back, two women confront social indifference and redefine the meaning of family.
Another defining feature of her work is a deep connection to her homeland. “As a refugee of ’74, I carry the loss and uprooting, which fuels my empathy for refugees and invisible struggles.” If she had to sum up her work in a single sentence, it would be this: “The ongoing struggle of women –and all marginalised people– to claim their voice and come to terms with themselves.”
