‘Find Me Falling’ Director Stelana Kliris Sets Cast for Next Feature ‘Apart From Her’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Cypriot filmmaker Stelana Kliris, who topped Netflix’ global charts earlier this year with “Finding My Feet,” is now underway on her next feature, having lined up an international lead cast.

Based on Kliris’ own screenplay, “Apart from Her” is described as a “drama with the pace and tension of a thriller.” Set in 1974, the story follows a young woman who flees war-torn Cyprus for apartheid South Africa through an arranged marriage. After befriending a local woman who harbours her own dark secret, hidden truths surface, forcing love and prejudice to collide.

The film will be led by Palestinian actress Leem Lubany, best known for 2013’s Oscar-nominated “Omar” and the Emmy nominated “The Old Man.” Lubany will be joined by Luke Pasqualino, whose credits include “The Musketeers” and recent Jilly Cooper adaptation “Rivals,” and Girley Jazama, whose performance in “Under The Hanging Tree,” Namibia’s first submission for the Oscars, earned her an African Movie Academy Award nomination.

“Apart from Her” is an international co-production with producers including Susan Simnett and Jamie Harvey from Over The Fence Films (U.K.), Ioanna Bolomyti from Atalante Productions (Greece) and Stelana Kliris herself producing for Meraki Films (Cyprus).

“I am thrilled to be working with this fantastic cast and amazing team on my third feature,” said Kliris. “In ‘Apart From Her’ we see an entire country’s internal conflict embodied in one woman and as an exploration of cultural and personal identity set against significant historical events, the film feels both timely and timeless.”

Made with the support from Cyprus Deputy Ministry of Culture, the Cyprus Film Commission’s incentives scheme, the Hellenic Film & Audiovisual Center — Creative Greece, European Union – NextGenerationEU through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan «GREECE 2.0», Creative Europe and the SEE Cinema Network, the film will be shot in Cyprus.

Leem Lubany is represented by Greene Talent, Hannah Hodgkinson and Sandy Erickson; Luke Pasqualino by The Artists Partnership, Innovative and Authentic Talent; and Girley Jazama by Actors Garden: