Sitting with actor and director Magaajyia Silberfeld, it’s easy to admire not only her achievements and dedication to her craft but also her current home. Behind her lies a beautiful Greek sunset reflecting on the horizon of the Mediterranean Sea. As we delve further into conversations about her connections across the globe, this impressive talent reveals a wanderlust and multicultural understanding that feeds her work. Currently starring in ‘Greek Salad’, an Amazon Prime series based in Athens that examines the lived experience for youth from across Europe, this is just the latest of many achievement for this rising star, another being her directorial short ‘Vagabonds’ featuring Danny Glover. Silberfeld tells me more…

Can you tell us about yourself?

I’ve studied Theatre at the Conservatoire de Paris and also at the Strasberg and Meisner institutes in LA. I attained my bachelor’s degree in Philosophy from the Sorbonne, and a Masters in English from Nanterre University in Paris. I’ve completed different projects in front of and behind the camera lens. My first film appearance was when I was 15 and I made my directorial debut at 18. I enjoy travelling and move between Greece, Niger and France, and I’ve lived in LA too.

So, you’re a woman of the world.

Coming from different backgrounds, being raised in Paris by a white father (French, Jewish-Polish journalist, Antoine Silber) and a Black mother (Nigerien journalist, writer and director, Rahmatou Keïta) who is Fulani and Songhai, has made me a nomad. I’m open and I adapt pretty easily to different cultures and people.

What drew you toward your art forms?

I started theatre when I was six and also grew up as a ballet dancer. I think I wanted to be in the light. Then at 14, I taught myself English through watching movies and just loved listening to the dialogue. This strengthened my wish to be a filmmaker and an actor. It’s a very difficult industry to break into but I have that goal in mind that keeps me going.

It must be encouraging that your mother is also a film director.

Yes. She wrote, directed and produced ‘The Wedding Ring’, which is a film I star in. I played the lead Tia who is a young, aristocratic woman from Niger. It’s a story about love and cultures and also traditions and languages that are disappearing in Africa. The film is in several languages, with the main one being Zarma or Songhai, which is my mother tongue. It was also the first film from Niger to be submitted to the Foreign Language category at The Oscars.

What is the most important element of storytelling for you?

From the directing perspective, there are many parts that form strong storytelling on a project. You can have an amazing script but if the visuals don’t align, the film can lose its strength. And the same applies the other way round. It’s important to create a story that people can relate to but this shouldn’t be the goal in mind. When you make a film it should be to release yourself and to understand more of who you are as a person and then hopefully people can relate to that.

What can you tell us about ‘Greek Salad’ and your role within it.

Cédric Klapisch’s original film, ‘L'Auberge Espagnole’, is a classic in France and is about a family in Spain in the early 2000s. The current series follows the two main character’s journey to Greece to deal with some family issues. It also touches upon the Syrian refugee crises. My character Zita is an NGO volunteer who’s very protective of the organisation she works for. She’s calm and relaxed and knows how to stand her ground. And when it comes to love she won’t be swayed, even if this is to her detriment, but time will tell if this is the case for her…

Who has been your favourite character to play to date?

I just shot and directed myself in a film in Berlin, called ‘What You’re Having!’. It was completely improv and no lines, so this was something I really enjoyed doing. It meant I was so free and playing myself.

What are the challenging parts of the work you do?

Making connections within the industry that are long lasting can be challenging but it’s rewarding when those connections remember your work and endeavours. It just takes one spark to make that magic moment and everything that can come with it. It’s important to me to like someone for who they are and not what you can get out of them. So, building up genuine relationships is what I endeavour to do.

What do you want audiences to take away from your projects?

I just want them to be touched. For me, when a film really moves me in the present and then I’m still thinking about it two weeks later, that’s when I know it’s changed something in me.

And for the future, what’s next for you?

My aspiration is to work with indie film makers such as Yorgos Lanthimos, Cristian Mungiu and Sergei Dvortsevoy. I’m ready to do more and enjoy being versatile while working and being internationally. I’d like to believe that I can fit in any country by my acting skills and ability to master the language. Being mixed-race, it can sometimes feel like you don’t fit in. So, showing that you can belong somewhere and anywhere you wish, having people believe this; is something that drives me.

Greek Salad is available to stream now on Amazon Prime.