Neasa Ní Chianáin, trained at the National College of Art & Design in Dublin, and worked as a freelance Art Director on Irish feature film and television projects, before switching to docs in 2001.

She has directed 9 single docs (5 of which are feature length) and one tv series. The docs include ‘Frank Ned & Busy Lizzie’, which won Best Feature Doc at The Celtic Film Festival 2004, and was sold around the world, including ZDF, ARTE and YLE. ‘Fairytale of Kathmandu’ world premiered at IDFA 2007, in competition. The film won 3 Best Documentary/Director awards and screened on YLE and Canvas. ‘The Stranger’, had its world premiere Locarno Film Festival. Her last film, ‘In Loco Parentis’ (aka ‘School Life’), has been a world-wide success, premiering at Sundance 2017. It won the Special Jury Prize at the San Francisco Film Festival, and the Prix du Public at Visions du Reel in Nyon.

Neasa is currently in post-production on a new feature documentary, ‘The Alexander Complex’, and has just completed production on Young Plato, a feature length documentary set in a boys school in Belfast, world premiering at Doc NYC, in competition.

Neasa has regularly guest lectured at Coleraine University, Maynooth University and DKIT. She has also been a Juror at IFTA, Cork Film Festival and Docville.