She was born in 1874 in
Lwow as Antonina Elżbieta Petrykiewicz. During
World War I she made a living as a singer and an actress in Warsaw and Berlin. Niovilla was the first Polish woman to direct a film and – at the same time – the only female film director of the silent film era in Poland. She debuted in 1918 in Berlin, where she directed the movie
Die Heiratsannonce, under a pseudonym Nina von Petry. The rights to screen the picture were sold abroad. Around this time, Niovilla also performed in the Qui Pro Quo cabaret. In 1926 the press informed that Niovilla was set to direct the film
W szponach szakali based on a script by Kazimierz Krzyżanowski. None of her work has survived. In 1926, Niovilla became one of the first international delegates of
ZAIKS at the 35. ALAI Congress. At the end of the 1920s she appeared in films and theatre plays directed by Danny Kaden (
Niebezpieczny pocałunek), Edward Puchalski (
Ludzie dzisiejsi), as well as Adam Augustynowicz and Ryszard Biske (
9.25. Przygoda jednej nocy). Apart from working on films and teaching, Niovilla also translated theatre plays from English and French to Polish, which were then staged at, among others, the
Polish Theatre in Warsaw, the
National Theatre, the Teatr Nowy in
Poznań and the Teatr Rozmaitości in Lviv. She also contributed to film magazines such as
Sztuka i Film and
Rewia Filmowa. == Works ==