Black-and-white photograph of birds perched on a wire, with one bird flying above misty mountains

INDEPENDENT FILMMAKER & STORYTELLER

Ariella Jelic.

Documentary Director

Finding the extraordinary
in the everyday.

Explore selected films

IN PURSUIT OF THE HUMAN STORYSCROLL TO DISCOVER 01 — 08

A WAY OF SEEING

I tell intimate, visual, auteur-driven nonfiction stories about everyday heroes.

I'm rarely uncurious and always inspired to tell stories of everyday people

SELECTED WORK / 2022 — 2026

Stories that stay.

01 / FILMS

El Sisè cicle

A Catalan family of gravediggers spanning six generations in the coastal town of El Masnou.

SHORT DOCUMENTARY CO-DIRECTOR OTOXO PRODUCTIONS

Act Fem

In one of Europe’s most densely populated neighbourhoods, just outside Barcelona, a pioneering theatre group confronts a high school dropout rate.

FEATURE DOCUMENTARY CO-DIRECTOR OTOXO PRODUCTIONSWatch trailer

Matriarch

My grandmother’s migration from Serbia to Australia in 1983, and her return to Serbia after COVID.

SHORT DOCUMENTARY DIRECTOR

Open

A portrait of Barcelona-based Russian visual artist Julia Buruleva. Made in 48 hours for Otoxo Productions’ Doc in a Weekend competition.

SHORT DOCUMENTARY DIRECTOR RUNNER-UPWatch film

Water Remembers

An immersive, sound-driven journey into the psyche and mental health of a community at ground zero in the aftermath of a catastrophic flood.

FEATURE DOCUMENTARY CO-DIRECTOR

Čuvari

A portrait of elderly loneliness in the remote villages of Stara Planina, a region at the heart of Serbia’s depopulation crisis

FEATURE DOCUMENTARY DIRECTOR

Portrait of Ariella Jelic beside a brick archway

OBSERVE CLOSELY. LISTEN DEEPLY.

BEHIND THE LENS

People first.
Always.

I'm an Australian-Serbian filmmaker working between Barcelona and Serbia. I'm drawn to the quiet human stories behind cultural, political and environmental upheaval. From generations of Catalan gravediggers to communities rebuilding after devastating floods, my work explores how ordinary lives carry extraordinary stories.

I believe the most revealing way to understand the world is through the people quietly living its changes.

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Ariella Jelic

BETWEEN THE FRAMES