Mariya Somova is a Ukrainian political refugee who left home at the age of 16 to pursue a career in filmmaking. She began by dreaming up concepts and filming them on her small home camera. Eventually, she moved to New York in order to find out what it really takes to be a filmmaker. She’d browse Craigslist and take every industry-related job she could to understand the function of sets while honing her craft. The education she earned during those years enabled her to write, direct and produce several short films as well as an ultra-low budget feature, on which she learned the value of delegation and collaboration. Each experience along her path has ultimately informed her most personal film yet, I Want to Live on Mars.