Melissa Anastasi is an award-winning Cypriot-Australian writer and director from Western Sydney. As a first generation queer filmmaker, her storytelling takes a bold and intimate approach to themes of identity, connection, sexuality and the complex lives of characters on the fringes.
Melissa's filmography includes the short film Chlorine, which garnered international recognition. It has been featured at prestigious events such as the BFI London Film Festival (UK), Sydney International Film Festival (Australia), Nashville Film Festival (USA), and Cork International Film Festival (Ireland). Chlorine has won multiple awards and fellowships: the Sydney Film Festival Lexus Fellowship, the Australian Director’s Guild Award for Best Directing in a Short Film, and was nominated for Best Short Film at the 2021 AACTA Awards.
Melissa’s many previous shorts, including This Feral Life, Sleepwalking, and By this River, have screened at over 40 international film festivals, including Oldenberg, Uppsala, New Directors/New Films, Tampere, and Thessoloniki Film Festival. Melissa also won the ADG Award for Best Direction in a Student Short Film for By this River.
Melissa recently completed post-production on her current short film Soft Gaze which she co-wrote with writer and creative partner Aimee Tracton.
In 2024, Melissa received Screen NSW advanced development funding for her debut feature film, On the Body, in collaboration with Producer’s Deanne Weir and Rebecca Barry.
On the Body has previously been developed through the Venice Film Festival’s ‘Biennale College Cinema’ (2021), a highly prestigious lab selecting 9 international projects annually, representing the most exciting new voices in cinema.
In addition, Melissa is in development on the feature film Shadow Play, with co-writer Aimee Tracton, and Executive Producers Ulysses Oliver and Ben Ferris of Breathless Films. Shadow Play is supported by Creative Australia.
CONTACT
Personal melissa@melissaanastasi.com
Commercial us@playgroundfilms.com.au
Instagram @anastaiville