A journey across
sound, vision & worlds.

Cristiano Stern is an Italian-born filmmaker, music producer and author, born in Trieste in 1967. His work moves between music, cinema, literature and digital technology, following a lasting interest in the ways stories can be heard, seen and experienced.

His first experiments with moving images go back to 1978, when he filmed an 8 mm stop-motion at the age of eleven. The musical years that followed included Desertica and a band videoclip filmed in 1988 — early points of contact between performance, sound and the camera.

From music to moving images.

His professional journey began in music in 1986, first as a musician and then as a producer. The European rock and electronic music scenes became part of his creative formation; Lex Acida and the original Genesi EP, released in 1994, belong to that early chapter.

In 1993, he established a computer-based video editing studio in Italy. Between 1996 and 2003, his involvement with Interfutura brought research and projects in music, early internet services and e-commerce into the same field of exploration. Sound, images and computing were becoming connected parts of his work.

A creative home in Brazil.

Moving to Brazil opened another chapter. His work has included television, documentaries, campaigns, music videos and DVDs, with encounters and collaborations involving artists such as João Carlos Martins, Paulo Moura and Ch&X. The recording room, the performance and the people around them remain a visible thread through his archive.

Through SBS Studios, based in Ilha Comprida, São Paulo, he develops projects that bring artistic direction and technology together. His Italian background and Brazilian creative base continue to shape both the stories and the ways they are produced.

Building worlds across forms.

At the centre of his authorial work is Die Gotica Universe, connecting audiovisual projects and books including Eva Lemsky — L’Ultima Spia di Mosca and A Insurreição dos Semideuses. The series Die Gotica and the animated feature A Desconhecida are distinct expressions of that wider narrative universe.

In 2022, A Desconhecida was selected by Ibermedia for animated-series development, with SBS Studios in Brazil and Around Culture in Italy. That documented milestone concerns development of the series; the animated feature remains a separate production. Official selection ↗

His ongoing exploration also includes Nuaviv, developed within the SBS Studios environment: another meeting point for production, images and technology. Across these different forms, the work continues to return to storytelling and the worlds it can open.