Catherine de Viana was born in Geneva, Switzerland. After obtaining a philosophy from London University and she trained as a radio journalist in Brussels. In parallel to her professional activities, Catherine started making short films. After the success of her first short film ‘Going Home', Catherine went on to film school in London. Bilingual in English and French, she works in both languages. Catherine has spent much of the past 10 years in Mali. Her documentary Di Den the messenger is a first feature length film, inspired by her love of nature and Mali.