Biography

Angelina Yurievna Nikonova (Russian: Ангелина Юрьевна Никонова; born 27 February 1976, in Rostov-on-Don as Angelina Fedoseenko) is a Russian filmmaker, television director and film producer, who works in Russia and USA. She was born and raised in Rostov-on-Don, in the south of Russia. Angelina dreamed about film directing since her childhood. However, the situation with national film production in Russia is complicated, especially for a woman. As Angelina notices: ‘Women as film directors are rarely trusted’. Moreover, Russian viewer is reluctant to national product. People rather go to watch Hollywood production, than a film made in Russia. She applied to Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography "VGIK". However, as she claims later, it was easier to immigrate to USA than to get accepted in VGIK. In 2001 she graduated from New York School of Visual Arts, with major in Film and Video.

The diploma short film "Isosceles" (2001) was awarded at the international film festival of student films "Saint Anna" in Moscow and at the international festival of experimental films Cineview (Florida, USA). The premiere of the full-length Russian-American documentary "Point of Return" took place in 2006. First feature-length film "Twilight Portrait" was co-written with actress Olga Dihovichnaya and received its world premiere at the 2011 "Kinotavr" Open Russian Film Festival, where it became a subject of understandable controversy among both critics and audiences. The international premiere of the film was held as part of the "Venice Days" program of the Venice Film Festival. The film was produced by Nikonova herself and shot for a budget of 17,000 US dollars on a Canon EOS 5D Mark II camera in 29 days. The work made a great success and won a number of prices, including international price for best debut 2011 on Warsaw International Film Festival. For the rigidity and authenticity of the film, colleagues behind the scenes nicknamed Nikonova "Lars von Trier in a skirt". At the same time, Angelina Nikonova worked as an organizator of International Film Festival 2morrow/Zavtra. In 2014, Nikonova directed her second feature film, the English-language Comedy "Welcome Home", about the life of Russian-speaking immigrants in new York. The film premiered at the 2015 Karlovy Vary Film Festival.