Adina Istrate is writer|director based in London.
Developed through the Berlinale Short Film Station and funded by Film London and Vestnorsk Filmsenter, her short film ‘Terminally Happy’ represented the UK in Euro-Connections at Clermont-Ferrand Film Festival. Among other accolades, the film earned her a Best Director nomination at the 2018 Underwire Film Festival. ‘Terminally Happy’ is distributed internationally by interfilm Berlin.
Together with Giannina La Salvia, Adina has co-produced, co-directed and edited '512 Hours', a feature documentary about iconic performance artist Marina Abramovic’s eponymous show at the Serpentine Galleries in London. '512 Hours' participated in the IFP Documentary Lab and US in Progress (American Film Festival in Paris) and had its world premiere at CPH:DOX in 2021. Represented for sales by Film Republic, the film is currently broadcast in the UK, Ireland and New Zealand by Sky Arts.
Her science-fiction feature script ‘Eve’ received development support from the Venice Biennale College Cinema, IFP, Edinburgh IFF and the Wellcome Trust.
Adina’s new narrative project ‘Vapours’, a thriller set in the UK’s Romanian community, received a development prize through the Mother Tongues Awards, an initiative launched by Ardimages UK and Shudder Films in association with Charades Films, Curzon Film and Intermission Film. ‘Vapours’ is currently in development with the British Film Institute.
Other upcoming projects include ‘Soft Power’, a dystopian/political drama developed through Pustnik Screenwriters’ Residency and the Torino Film Lab, and ‘Aurora’, a horror series selected for TIFF Full Moon Creative Lab.
Adina is a Berlinale Talents, BAFTA Connect, BFI NET.WORK and BIFA Springboard alumna.