Vera Graziadei is a Ukraine-born British actor, filmmaker, and poet, known for her diverse and dynamic career. Her journey in the arts began with a degree and Masters in Philosophy from the London School of Economics, followed by a BA in Acting from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts (LAMDA). Signed by Curtis Brown during her time at LAMDA, Vera spent a decade with them, honing her craft in film, TV, theatre, and radio both in the UK and internationally.

As a filmmaker, Vera is the founder of Luminous Arts Productions and co-producer of the feature film “The Book of Vision,” alongside Terrence Malick as an executive producer. This film, starring Charles Dance, Lotte Verbeek, and Sverrir Gudnason, premiered at the Venice Film Festival, opened the Warsaw Film Festival and San Francisco International Film Festival, and featured in numerous other prestigious festivals worldwide, including Sitges. Distributed by Celluloid Dreams, it had an international cinema release, including a 2022-23 run in the UK, and is now available on major VOD platforms.

Vera’s current main focus is on writing, directing, and acting. She has created several award-winning short films, some of which have been selected for OSCAR and BAFTA-qualifying festivals. Her portfolio includes the mini-comedy “A Map of the World,” the dark comedy “In the Woods with a Dead Dog,” adapted from Michel Faber’s short story, the docudrama “nic_unextinct,” and the drama “The Silent Canary,” co-written with Bex Harvey. “The Silent Canary” premiered at the Cambridge Film Festival, won Best Foreign Short at the Female Eye Film Festival in Toronto, and Best Short of the Year and Best Female Director of the Year at the Independent Shorts Awards in LA. Vera’s recent script, “Ivanko’s Childhood,” is a finalist at Flickers’ Rhode Island Film Festival’s Screenplay Competition and is currently in development. Vera has also written two feature films, which are also in the pipeline.

In her screen acting career, Vera has appeared in iconic British TV series such as “The Bill,” “Doctors,” “Blue Murder,” “Spooks,” and “Poirot.” She also played supporting roles in Alfonso Cuaron’s “Children of Men” and Michael Winterbottom’s “The Look of Love.” Additionally, Vera took on leading roles in major projects like “The Deep,” alongside Minnie Driver, “Me and Mrs Jones,” with Sarah Alexander and Robert Sheehan, and “Vampire Killers” with Myanna Buring, James Corden and Matthew Horne. She is perhaps most widely recognised for her role as Elena in the British cult sitcom “Peep Show,” acting alongside Olivia Colman, David Mitchell, and Robert Webb, under the writing of Jessie Armstrong and Sam Bain. Her recent credits are in feature films “The Book of Vision” and “They Who Surround Us” by LA-based actor/director Troy Ruptash. Vera is currently represented by Simon & How.

Vera’s debut poetry book The Holy Longing came out in September 2018 and got high praise from the readers. White Light, a film based on the poem from the book that Vera performed in and produced, won Best Experimental Film at New York City Independent Film Festival 2020.

Vera is a founder and director of a London-based film production company Luminous Arts Productions, which has produced a number of short films, has been involved with Amir Naderi‘s Mountain and recently produced Carlo Hintermann’s The Book of Vision in collaboration with Terrence Malick (The Tree of Life, The Thin Red Line, Days of Heaven), Entre Chien et Loup (The Happy Prince, Elle, The Man who killed Don Quixote) and Citrullo International.

The Book of Vision opened Venice Film Festival’s Critics’ Week and Warsaw Film Festival. It was officially selected for Sitges, Riga, Montreal, Pingayo and Thessaloniki Film Festivals and was nominated for Best Feature in Sitges and Pingayo.