C R E A T I V E
Director | Writer
[stage + screen]
Jeneffa is an award-winning Istro-Romanian director whose work is shaped by her lived experience as the child of immigrant parents. Her father was an illegal immigrant from the former Yugoslavia in the 1950s, and her mother was removed from her family under Australia’s child removal policies to create the illusion of a ‘white’ Australia. Growing up in the western suburbs of Australia as one of the only kids in her town from a culturally and linguistically diverse background, she became a storyteller, both to be included and to provide inclusivity. Since 1997, she has travelled and worked extensively around the world to hone and refine her skills, accumulating a body of work as a director, producer, and acting coach.
Jeneffa has directed a number of short films, including The Honey Makers (Executive Producer Alison Owen), which won Best Cinematography at Global Impact Film Festival, the Audience Award at Fort Lauderdale Film Festival, and Best International Short Film at Mystic Film Festival; Azzurro starring Giacomo Gianniotti (Grey’s Anatomy), which won Best International Short Film at the Santa Monica Film Festival and was nominated for awards at the Italian Contemporary Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, Gold Coast International Film Festival, Roma Cinema DOC, and Oregon Short Film Festival; Super 80, selected for the 2018 Straight 8 Film Festival (London BFI), Cinequest Film & Creativity Festival (San Jose) and Short + Sweet Hollywood; Give Me A Minute…, which won Best Australian Short Film at the World Film Fair in NYC, was runner-up for Best Short at Joy House Film, Giphy Film Festival, and Stellar Film Festival; and … is the thing with feathers, which was shown at the Berlin Film Festival 2020 for Berlin Film Society, the 2019 Straight 8 Film Competition (London), and Encounters Film Festival, Bristol. Jeneffa also directed the dramatic short film, Ordinary, which premiered in 2019 at San Antonio Film Festival, Global Impact Film Festival, Venice Shorts Film Fest, and was part of the award-winning anthology Her Mind in Pieces. She directed and produced the popular YouTube web series Then That Happened, which garnered multiple nominations at LA WebFest, Be Careful What You Wish For Edinburgh Fringe, winning Dolores’ Pick of the Fringe, and recently adapted as a tiny play for Jermyn Street Theatre, London. She also produced, developed, and story-edited several documentaries that have gone on to major film festivals including Yes Madam, Sir (starring Helen Mirren), which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).
Her theatre directing highlights include: Fade (National Theatre of Parramatta) Speaking in Tongues (Australian Theatre Company - LA based), a multi award-winning play that scored Jeneffa a Stage Scene Award for Best Director; Things I Know To Be True (Australian Theatre Company); The Hammer, (San Diego Fringe Festival); The Incredible Here and Now (National Theatre of Parramatta); and The Normal Heart (Eternity Playhouse) in Sydney, in support of the Marriage Equality vote in 2017.
Jeneffa has served as an onset and private Acting Coach to many accomplished award-winning international actors on Emmy and BAFTA-nominated TV shows, as well as at major international drama schools. She is regularly invited to hold acting workshops held in cities including Sydney, Caracas, Perth, Paris, NYC, Bangkok, and London and has also been invited to give master-classes, speak on panels, and judge work by Pace University in NYC, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok University, National Institute of Dramatic Art, University of New South Wales, Commune of Avigliano Umbro in Italy, and Actors Centre Australia. Jeneffa is also a current board member of Fundación Gimnasio de Actores in Venezuela as Head of the Advisory Council.
After receiving her MFA from the Actors’ Studio Drama School in NYC, she became a proud life member of The Actors Studio. She was recently invited to the new Directors Unit of the Actors Studio under multi-award winner Estelle Parsons, and was later appointed as Adjunct Professor at Pace University Performing Arts School in NYC.
Jeneffa recently shadowed on Siren for Freeform in Vancouver, and is currently working as a director on-set acting coach for Tyler Perry’s hit TV show, Young Dylan. She is slated to direct her first feature film, By A Lady, written by Geetika Lizadi and produced by Big Swing Productions.