Pia Derya ( She / Her )
Director / Writer / Producer
Pia Derya is a Turkish-Australian director and writer.
Pia’s artistic path began in acting and writing, ultimately culminating in her true passion: directing.
Her acting credits include roles in major films like George Miller’s " Three Thousand Years of Longing " and a leading part in Bill Bennett’s "The Way, My Way".
Pia’s experience also extends to assistant directing, having worked on several feature films, including Bahman Ghobadi’s " No One Knows About Persian Cats", which won the Special Jury Prize in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival.
In 2023, Pia made her directorial debut with "Sleeping Beauties",a film she also wrote, which earned her accolades for Best Director, Best Drama and Best Film at the AWFF 2024. The film has been recognized at prestigious festivals such as Clermont Ferrand Film Festival Market Picks 2024, Flickerfest 2024, St Kilda Film Festival 2024 and CinefestOz 2024.
Her follow-up short film, " The Disconnected ", premiered at the 2024 Sydney Film Festival, where it was a finalist for the Dendy Awards.
Pia was granted a Sundance Collab scholarship to further develop her script "Lights, Setbacks, Action".
At the beginning of 2025 , she received Screen NSW script development funding to further develop her screenplay. She was also selected as one of 14 talents in the 2025 For Film Sake Platform , presented in partnership with Sydney Film Festival, participating as a producer.