Mariana Čengel Solčanská, a multifaceted artist, was born on February 14, 1978, in Nitra, Slovakia. She pursued higher education at the Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra, where she studied political science and cultural studies.
Subsequently, she furthered her education at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava, specializing in film directing under the mentorship of renowned filmmakers Stanislav Párnický and Martin Šulík. Her academic endeavors culminated in the attainment of a doctorate in media studies from the Pan-European University in 2014.
Solčanská's professional journey began with a series of short student films. Her full-length directorial debut was the historical adventure movie, The Legend of Flying Cyprian, released in 2010. This was followed by the TV film Autopsy, which she also scripted. Her subsequent work, the social drama Love Me or Leave Me (2013),was based on the script by Alena Bodingerová.
In 2014, Solčanská directed and wrote the fairy tale Láska na Vlásku, which gained significant popularity in Slovak cinemas despite mixed reviews. As the country's political landscape shifted in the latter half of the 2010s, Solčanská began to incorporate more overt political commentary into her work, which she viewed as her "civic duty."
Her subsequent projects reflected this shift, including the movie Kidnapping (2017),which explored the crimes committed by the Slovak secret service during the authoritarian government of Vladimír Mečiar in the 1990s. The thriller Scumbag (2020),based on the novel by journalist Arpád Soltész, was another notable release. Both Kidnapping and Scumbag were among the most successful movies in Slovak cinemas since the country's independence.
