I am Ana-Maria Bandean, an award winning actress, based in NYC. Born and raised in Romania, I obtained my BFA in Acting from the prestigious National University for Theatre and Film I.L. Caragiale, Bucharest, and received two nominations for best actress upon graduation. I also possess a BFA in Romanian and French from The Faculty of Letters, University of Bucharest. I moved to NYC ten years ago from London where I was awarded with Merit an MFA in Acting International, from East15 Acting School, University of Essex. During my MFA, I completed a Residency at The Shakespeare’s Globe and a Residency with GITIS, Moscow, where I got my certificate in Meyerhold’s Biomechanics.
Before moving to NYC, I appeared in major theatrical productions in London, Edinburgh, Moscow and Bucharest, including the world premier of Making Stalin Laugh at Tristan Bates Theatre, London, and Deimos at The Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
My journey in New York started as a movement for stage instructor, running workshops that I designed for theatre & film actors. At that time I worked in conjunction with Susan B Productions and IFTER, a Russian-American Art Foundation. The workshops used Meyerhold’s approach and concept of acting through physical work and movement exercises, called Biomechanics. In the summer of 2019 I was selected to participate in a two week seminar in Biomechanics, led by Maria Smaevich, in Italy.
My film credits include acting in Indie films such as Curbside Pickup, a short film directed by Richard Drutman, as a lead actress, selected in several film festivals across America, for which I won Best Upcoming Comedic Actress Award in 2022 at the International Film Festival Manhattan. The short was also part of the Cannes 2023 Marché Du Film/ Short Film Corner. I’m also currently working as a main producer and leading actress on a biopic feature film, Romanian-American-French Production. In September 2023 I was presented with the Achievement Award during the NY Gala Awards.
