Paola Nerilli

Paola Nerilli is an Italian fashion film director born in Apulia to a Venezuelan father and an Italian mother. Raised in an international environment across Lebanon, Kenya, and Spain, she graduated in Fashion Media Production from the University of the Arts London.

Her work explores the intersection of fashion, folklore, and memory, often drawing on the visual and symbolic heritage of southern Italy. Through a poetic and psychologically charged cinematic language, Nerilli creates immersive narratives that blur the boundaries between dream and reality. In projects such as Liminal Realm, fashion becomes a medium through which identity, perception, and the subconscious are examined.

Her early short film Naenya, developed during her master’s studies, was screened at Victoria Basement and selected for the Aesthetica Short Film Festival, marking the beginning of her presence within the international fashion film circuit.

Alongside directing, she works in art direction for visual campaigns, collaborating with artists and brands while maintaining a distinctive aesthetic rooted in narrative experimentation and cultural heritage.