María Onis was born in the city of Buenos Aires in 1977. She studied as a screenwriting at Film University (FUC). She carried out the short films Maíz que nada (2010, 8,20 min) and Alert! (2015, 5,49 min) Galaxies (2 min. 2001), Los celos de la piedra (7:30 min. 2011), and Sobremesa. With Ínsula she presents her first long feature film. Her next projects Jorge Polaco and Ronda are still in the making. So far, she has worked with many different directors, musicians and video artists.
In 2007, María Onis started working with Constanza Macras (www.dorkypark.org) in Berlin and Sao Paulo making the videos for the plays Brickland, in 2008 for Paraíso sem Consolacao and in 2009 for Megalopolis.
In 2018, she was art director for the Lucrecia Martel movie Zama, and in 2017 for Ejercicios de Memoria by Paz Encina. María Onis also art directed a number of commercials and short films: for example Luis Vuitton by Annie Leibovitz (F.F. Coppola and Sofia Coppola) and Muta (Lucrecia Martel, 2011).
Her musical development started at the age of eight when she began her guitar studies, then entering the Lopez Buchardo
National Conservatory. Now she is studying at the Manuel De Falla Conservatory to become a concert pianist.
Furthermore, María Onis is the composer, singer and guitarist of her band María Onis y su conjunto Almohada, releasing two albums: “Almohada” (2001) and “Pompas de jamón” (2013) (www.mariaonisalmohada.bandcamp. com, www.youtube.com/mariaonisalmohada). She composed the music for shorts like Muta (Lucrecia Martel, 2011, 7 min), Guacho (Juan Minujín, 2007, Berlinale/Panorama 2007, 17 min), El pájaro negro (exhibited in the House of Culture, Berlin, Germany, 2004, 3 min), Los hijos de la apriencia (Martín Haas, 2002, 63 min), and Safo (Gregorio Anchou, 2002, 55 min).
In 2015, together with Lucrecia Martel they made recordings for a collection of short stories by Argentinian writers read by actors.