About

Zoya
Laktionova

Zoya Laktionova worked as an independent artist and documentary filmmaker until the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Her artistic activity is related to the issues of war, landscapes, memory, and personal stories. In 2017, for the first time, she entered the world of documentary cinema as one of the heroines of the film Ma, directed by Maria Stoyanova. A year later, she created her first own documentary titled Diorama (2017), which revolves around the mined sea around Mariupol. The film received an award at the 86 International Festival of Film and Urbanism, Slavutych, in the MyStreet-Films category and participated in several European film festivals, including DOK Leipzig, Leipzig; Ji.hlava IDFF, Jihlava; and FilmFestival Cottbus, Cottbus. In 2021, her film Territory of Empty Windows premiered at the Docudays UA International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival, Kyiv, followed by screenings at the Molodist International Film Festival, Kyiv. It won a number of awards at international film festivals.