Liana Stewart: Documentarian

Liana Stewart is an award-winning Welsh director specialising in observational and character-led documentaries for TV and branded content.  

Liana has directed a multitude of documentaries, including Ambulance (BBC One, 2018); the Grierson-nominated 'My First Time', part of the Take Your Knee Off My Neck series (Channel 4, 2020); Sex Actually with Alice Levine (Channel 4, 2022); and Sprint (Netflix, 2024). Her short-form documentary Black and Welsh (BBC Wales, 2020) was nominated for three BAFTA Cymru awards, winning Director: Factual. Liana is currently in post-production for her first global feature film for Netflix. 

With a Jamaican father and a Chinese, Bajan and white Welsh mother, Liana enjoyed a culturally rich upbringing in Butetown, Cardiff. Her thirst for capturing underrepresented people, diverse communities and unique characters stems from this. Liana is a self-shooting director with over 10 years experience, capturing contributors up, close and personal, striving to deliver cinematic visuals while maintaining documentary honesty in her films. 

At university, she experienced a clear divide between the socioeconomic classes and, as she sought to break into the screen industries, she struggled to find existing Black, female and working-class role models. Despite an expectation that things might be different when she made the move from Cardiff to London, she found the same barriers existed. 

After having to push really hard for directing opportunities early in her career, she is keen to support those from underrepresented groups to further their filming and directing skills in the industry. Liana is passionate about changing perceptions and is deeply committed to making a meaningful impact both through her films and in the broader industry.