Kerli Kirch Schneider (1985) is an Estonian-born filmmaker who is currently completing her Ph.D.in media communication at the University of Miami where she conducts research on film and teaches various cinema and pop culture related courses. Through the film program at the University of Miami, Kerli made her first experiments in the world of movies- both in terms of screenwriting and directing. She is also part of a Miami female filmmakers group in which she works as 1st AD for a trilogy that focuses on themes of love and sexuality through dark humor. In the summer of 2018, Kerli directed her first professionally produced short film, Virago, for which she wrote the screenplay during her film studies at the University of Miami. Kerli is currently working on two feature film scripts. She approaches the themes of hyperreality, destiny, mythology and superstition through the lens of magical realism and dark comedy, usually incorporating strong and mysterious female characters.