Biography

Neasa Ní Chianáin is an Irish documentary filmmaker who is best known for her 2022 film Young Plato, which has been critically acclaimed and nominated for some of the most prestigious awards in the film industry, including the International Documentary Association (IDA) awards and the British Independent Film Awards. Ní Chianáin studied at the National College of Art and Design in Dublin. She worked as freelance art director on several Irish feature film and television projects, such as All Soul’s Day, Angela’s Ashes and A Love Divided, and also on the BBC TV series Rebel Heart.

Her first documentary was No Man’s Land (2001), about the asylum process in Ireland. Her more recent productions have included Frank Ned & Busy Lizzie (2004), Fairytale of Kathmandu (2007), The Stranger (2014), School Life (2016) and Young Plato (2021). In Loco Parentis/School Life premiered at IDFA 2016, and was thereafter invited to Sundance Film Festival 2017, and other international film festivals, at several of which it has won awards. Fairytale of Kathmandu also premiered at IDFA 2007, and was invited to over 30 other international film festivals. Young Plato has been Ní Chianáin's most successful film to date. It has screened at over 50 festivals worldwide and has won 11 Irish and international awards including the Irish Film and Television Academy (IFTA) award for Best Feature Documentary. Young Plato has been nominated for the prestigious IDA awards, the BIFA awards and the Satellite awards - all in 2022

Between 2006 and 2020, Neasa was co-director of the Guth Gafa International Documentary Film Festival, Gortahork, County Donegal.She is a mother of two, and lives with her partner David Rane.