Hi! I’m Tanya Chekhova, a Berlin-based documentary film director and welcome you here with my producer partners Denis and Julia.

Despite all the struggle and emotional cost that filmmaking often brings into my life, I continue to do what I love and what I deeply believe in. Producers Julia Meyer-Pavlovic and Denis Pavlovic, from Glass Frog Films Hamburg, are here to support me on this way.

Together with Glass Frog Films , we launched this fundraiser to complete a feature documentary I began in Istanbul in 2022. The film is a reflection on escapism and the fragile imaginary worlds we build to protect ourselves - all set in today’s Istanbul, in the heart of Turkey.

A kaleidoscopic journey through six different lives, from all over the world and from the heart of the city, merging into a collective story about life in Istanbul, trapped inside a time capsule that slowly begins to crack open, revealing the path toward a new world, at least in their minds.

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In many ways, The Facade became my own illusion too, or rather, the process of making it did. What I once imagined as a creative journey turned into a long and often difficult confrontation with myself and the realities of a highly competitive industry.

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https://www.gofundme.com/f/thefacademovie

Hello friends – we will be at CPH:DOX from March 15th to 20th and are looking forward to conversations, drinks and get-togethers.
We are on the FORUM and still have some space in the calendar - get in touch!

See you in Copenhagen!

🖤 ​​The Frogs.

Denis Pavlovic’s new short film “ÜBER GRENZEN” was awarded production funding by MOIN FILMFÖRDERUNG in the final funding round of 2025.
With this support, we have already begun production.
Filming is scheduled to start at the end of February.

We are very excited.

In the final funding round of 2025 by the FFA (German Federal Film Board), our project HIDDEN LINES received treatment development funding.
Many thanks!

Denis Pavlovic took part in the 2025 edition of the Balkan Documentary Center Discovery program with our project "A LAND THAT TIME FORGOT".
At the final pitch of the Balkan Doc Market, he impressed a distinguished international jury and won the Best Pitch Award, sponsored by the Bulgarian Ministry of Culture.

Julia Meyer-Pavlovic successfully completes the one-year mentoring program of AGDOK, led by Britta Strampe (Bandenfilm), with a pitch for our project “A LAND THAT TIME FORGOT” during DOK Leipzig 2025.

For more than 17 years, the German-Bulgarian musician Lisa Morgenstern had not returned to her homeland, Bulgaria. The pain and shame of having broken off contact with her now-deceased grandmother during her teenage years were too great. But when Lisa’s booker informs her of an invitation to a festival in Sofia, she gathers her courage. This marks the beginning of a musical journey of discovery through the country. Amidst remote villages, dramatic landscapes, and surrounded by traditional music, Lisa grapples with her German-Bulgarian identity and her personal and familial conflicts. Recordings of nearly forgotten songs and work on a new album bring Lisa back to her own roots and open up her future as an internationally recognized musician. But the road to get there, through her past, is still a difficult one.

Christian Bluthardt (Bluthardino, Mondo Sangue) composed and produced the music for the film Mañana Sol by Denis Pavlovic (Glass Frog Films). This can now be streamed and downloaded on all common platforms.
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Spotify
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YouTube
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Apple Music

We are one of the 5 selected projects for the DOK.composition Award Pitch 2025 – spotlighting outstanding collaborations between composers and documentary filmmakers.
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Together with director Thomas Oswald and our musician and protagonist Lisa Morgenstern, we’ll be in Munich from May 9th to May 11th.

Our documentary film “MAÑANA SOL” is now available to stream worldwide!
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Curated by DOK.fest Munich – selected for the platform DOC AROUND EUROPE.
This space features only talent films by emerging directors.
We’re thrilled to be part of.
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Check it out and spread the word!
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Watch the film here

Here’s the link to the podcast by Deutschlandfunk Kultur – PLUS EINS.
Podcast - PLUS EINS
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Aleksandar and Jadranka retire to the Canary Islands – and separate shortly after. In his documentary "Mañana Sol," director Denis Pavlovic follows his parents with a camera as they navigate the not-so-easy path to a new life.

Follow us on instagram! We’re giving a behind-the-scenes look at the production of our documentary "Hidden Lines."
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“Hidden Lines” follows people of different generations as they navigate everyday life with scoliosis.
The film offers a sensitive and intimate glimpse into lives shaped by chronic pain, uncertainty, and quiet resilience.
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It tells not only of physical challenges, but also of strength, courage, and the unwavering will to stand tall against the curve of one’s own spine—day after day.
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A powerful story about the visible and the invisible—and about the lines that shape our lives.

Denis on THE SPOT about his week
My week: filmmaker Denis Pavlovic
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SPOT checks in with the industry to find out what the upcoming week looks like from a filmmaking perspective. This time, it’s filmmaker Denis Pavlovic, whose graduation film "Mañana Sol" was released on the streaming platform Doc-Around-Europe.

We will be at the Berlinale from February 13th to 19th. Meet us for a coffee and join the conversation. We look forward to seeing you!

We will be at the IDFA from November 15th to 20th. Meet us for a coffee and join the conversation. We look forward to seeing you!

We are participating in this year's PITCH_IT workshop program with our project The Mountain Has Fallen by the talented director Thomas Oswald.

PITCH_IT 4TH EDITION is a workshop programme for emerging directors, writers, and producers who are based in the Republic of Croatia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, the Republic of Serbia, and the Slovak Republic and aims to support your first steps in the film industry. The project is a collaboration between Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg and Goethe-Institut funded by the programme „Perspektive Donau” of the Foundation Baden-Württemberg Stiftung.