Laktionova
Director, Editor, Visual artist
Biography
Zoya Laktionova was born in Mariupol (Ukraine), in a working class family in 1984. She is a filmmaker and visual artist who uses moving images, photography, and texts in her works. Zoya aims to convey emotions through art metaphors intertwined with the dramatic language of cinema. In her artistic practice, she adopts micro-history, auto-ethnography and creative storytelling to unfold the complexity of greater events and historical contexts. This often makes it difficult to clearly allocate Zoya's films, which is why they are shown both at film festivals (DOK Leipzig, FID Marseille, Cottbus etc) and in art museums such as the Center Pompidou, Palais de Tokyo in Paris or the MUMOK in Vienna.
Zoya is a recipient of the Harriman Institute Residency at Columbia University '22-23, Civitella Visual Arts Fellow `23-24, Academy of Fine Arts Vienna Resident `23-24, Film Independent Global Media Makers Fellow `24, Cite Internationale des Arts resident `24-25.
Before the start of a full-scale war of Russia against Ukraine (24/02/22), Zoya lived in Kyiv and worked as an independent artist and documentary filmmaker.
Photo (c) Institute for Ideas & Imagination 2022
Artist's statement
My art practice belongs to two disciplines—documentary filmmaking and contemporary art. Through my films, I aim to convey emotions using art metaphors intertwined with the cinematic drama language. This often makes it hard to find an unequivocal place for my films, which is why they are screened both at film festivals as well as at art museums and art galleries. In my practice, I adopt micro-history, auto-ethnography, and creative storytelling to unfold the complexities of greater events and historical context. In my short films, I build a human-to-human language that doesn’t use complex political terms and is clear to the majority of the living. Even though my stories often touch on the complexity of the influencing macro powers of existence, I believe that the micro-stories of the human experience, and especially for me now—the human experience of war—need to be told. For a human to feel the other human being behind the big abstract categories like politics, history, economics, or social theory.
Educational background/ labs
2024 - American Film Showcase editing workshop, Warsaw (Poland)
2023 - Documentary Industry Days in Gdynia (Poland)
2023 - IDFA Project Space, Amsterdam (Netherlands)
2023 - DocLab Poland at Krakow Film Festival (Poland)
2022 - IDFAcademy, Amsterdam (Netherlands)
2022 - Salzburg Summer Academy, Fragility and Resilience: Queering Strategies Revisited, Salzburg, (Austria)
2022 - goEast - "EAST-WEST TALENT LAB", Wiesbaden (Germany)
2019 - Documentary Storyteling with personal voice, B2BDOC - workshop, Kishinev (Moldova)
2019 - The Sergey Bukovsky Film Program, documentary filmmaking course, Kyiv (Ukraine)
2018 - MyStreetFilms, documentary filmmaking rogram, Kyiv (Ukraine)
2018 - Ji.Hlava Academy, documentary filmmaking orkshop, Jihlava (Czech)
Awards
2024-2025 - Cite Internationale des Arts resident, Paris (France)
2024 - Global Media Makers by Film Independent Fellow, Los Angeles (USA)
2024 - Civitella Visual Arts Fellow (Italy)
2022 - Harriman Residencies in Paris - Columbia University | Institute for Ideas & Imagination, Paris (France)
2021 - nominated top-10 young Ukrainian artists "MUHi"
2021 - best short documentary "Territory of empty windows", french-ukrainian international film festival "MICT"
2021 - special mention for "Territory of empty windows", "Obyrok" International film festival (Ukraine)
2018 - best short documentary "Diorama", "86" International film festival (Ukraine)
Selected Film Festivals
2024 - Mezipatra, Prague (Czech)
2024 - Sunny Bunny, Kyiv (Ukraine)
2024 - Beast IFF, Porto (Portugal)
2023 - WIZ-ART LISFF, Lviv (Ukraine)
2023 - Post Porn Film Festival Warsaw (Poland)
2023 - Go Short – International Short Film Festival, Nijmege (Netherlands)
2023 - DC Environmental Film Festival, Washington DC (USA)
2023 - Tampere Film Festival (Finland)
2023 - Sehsüchte - International Student Film Festival, Potsdam (Germany)
2022 - FIDMarseille, Marseille (France)
2022 - goEast - Wiesbaden (Germany)
2022 - Vienna Shorts (Austria)
2022 - Encounters Film Festival, Bristol (UK)
2022 - Filma. Feminist Film Festival (Ukraine)
2021 - MakeDox Creative Documentary Film Festival, Skopje, (North Macedonia)
2021 - Docudays UA, Kyiv (Ukraine)
2021 - Molodist Kyiv International Film Festival (Ukraine)
2019 - Bamberger Kurzfilmtage (Germany)
2019 - Uppsala film festival 2019 (Sweden)
2018 - DOK Leipzig (Germany) - International Competition Short Film
2018 - Ji.hlava IDFF (Czech)
2018 - Cottbus FilmFestival (Germany)
Residences
2024-2025 - Cite Internationale des Arts resident, Paris (France)
2024 - Global Media Makers by Film Independent, Los Angeles (USA)
2024 - Anca Poterasu Gallery, Bucharest (Romania)
2024 - Civitella Visual Arts Fellow (Italy)
2023 - Academy of Fine Arts Vienna (Austria)
2022-23 - Harriman Residencies in Paris - Columbia University | Institute for Ideas & Imagination, Paris (France)
2022 - steirischer herbst, Graz (Austria)
2022 - VILLA MÜLLER, Feldkirch (Austria)
2022 - CeRCCa, (Spain)
2021 - Grounding IZOLYATSIA, Soledar (Ukraine)
2021 - TBCK forward residency program for female documentarians, Kosice (Slovakia)
Solo Exhibitions
2025 - Memory Practices/ Практики пам'яті, Ukraїnka Gallery, Kyiv (Ukraine)
2024 - Memory Practices, Anca Poterasu Gallery, Bucharest (Romania)
2022-23 - Zoya Laktionova: Remember the Smell of Mariupol, Jozef Kollár Gallery, Banská Štiavnica (Slovakia)
Selected Group Exhibitions
2025 - STASYS MUSEUM - And the Wind Will Take Us Away, Panevezys (Lithuania)
2025 - Cite International Des Arts Montmartre Open Studios, Paris (France)
2024 - Warsaw, My Warsaw (Poland)
2024 - Bačva Gallery - AFAR: Topography of a Project, Zagreb (Croatia)
2024 - Minuszwei - A Vessel. A Cage. A Machine. A Temple, Vienna (Austria)
2024 - Künstlerhaus Vienna - DE/CODING TEXTILE (Austria)
2024 - Mystetskyi Arsenal - Between Farewell and Return Kyiv (Ukraine)
2023 - Melkweg - Recharge and Revolt, Amsterdam (The Netherlands)
2023 - bak, Utrecht (The Netherlands)
2023 - Slovak Institute in Prague - Dig Deep, Prague (Czech)
2023 - Dymchuk Gallery - The International Coalition of cultural workers in solidarity with Ukraine, Kyiv (Ukraine)
2023 - Kino REX - Deadline Ukraine, Bern (Switzerland)
2023 - Motorenhalle, Dresden (Germany)
2022-2023 -Palais de Tokyo - L'ami intérieur, Paris (France)
2022 - Documenta Halle - Documenta Fifteen, Kassel (Germany)
2022 - MAXXI - Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo - "Chain Reaction", Rome (Italy)
2022 - Kunsthalle Bratislava - Chain Reaction, (Slovakia)
2022 - National Gallery, Sofia - Film of emergency/ Ukraine experimental film and video art (Bulgaria)
2022 - 5th floor - the digital platform of the Centre d’Art Contemporain Genève, online (Switzerland)
2022 - Coalmine - To Watch the War –The Moving Image Amidst the Invasion of Ukraine (2014–2022) (Winterthur, Switzerland)
2022 - Nida Art Colony of the Vilnius Academy of Arts - Sweet Dreams Foundation (Lithuania)
2022 - Kaunas Picture Gallery - Sweet Dreams Foundation Kaunas (Lithuania)
2022 - Kunstraum München - Film of Emergency – Ukrainischer Experimentalfilm und Videokunst (Germany)
2022 - Galerie Raum mit Licht - Preserving the shape, Vienna (Austria)
2022 - Olomouc Museum Of Art - Home and Abroad: Central Europe Cinema, (Czech)
2022 - Neue Galerie Graz - A War in the Distance. Prologue. An Embattled Ukraine in Video Art and Film (Austria)
2022 - Gmunden.photo 2022, Gmunden (Austria)
2022 - Literature Museum Tbilisi - Ukrainian-Georgian Contemporary Art Exhibition "Tomorrow, Tbilisi (Georgia)
2021 - M17 galery, Kyiv - MUHi Exhibition of the finalists of the competition of young Ukrainian artists (Ukraine)
2020 - #bruederschaft with “Territory of empty windows” short film (10’), hybrid offline (KINO42) and online, Kyiv (Ukraine)
2018 - photo project "Trees". AkT space, Kyiv (Ukraine)
Selected Publications/ Catalogs
2025 - VARIETY - Zoya Laktionova’s Mariupol Memoir Wins Big at Visions du Réel’s Industry Awards
2025 - SCREEN DAILY - Ukrainian documentary takes top prize at Visions du Reel industry awards
2025 - CINEUROPA - Zoya Laktionova • Director of Ashes Settling in Layers on the Surface
2024 - DEADLINE - Film Independent Sets Participants For 2024 Global Media Makers LA Residency
2024 - Mutual Art - Zoya Laktionova: Memory Practices
2024 - Harriman Magazine, printed and online. Language: English.
2023 - Notebook, Issue 2 - Ukrainian poet Natalka Bilotserkivets and filmmaker Zoya Laktionova talk about life and art during wartime. Printed magazine. Language: english.
2023 - MUBI - In Conversation with Natalka Biloserkivets and Zoya Laktionova
2023 - EL PAIS - Moscow loses a cultural battle as Degas’ ‘Russian dancers’ recognized as Ukrainian
2023 - Muzeum Thyssen-Bornemisza - Conversation with Ukrainian artists "War on Culture- Culture at war", Madrid (Spain)
2023 - In Conversation with Ukrainian Documentary Filmmaker Zoya Laktionova (Harriman Resident in Paris, ’22 -’23)
2023 - rtve teleradio2 - La cultura en tiempo de guerra, Spain
2022 - Artribune - Chain Reaction, al MAXXI la rassegna sulla videoarte ucraina
2022 - A conversation with Zoya Laktionova - ON MARIUPOL, MEMORY AND LIFE IN TWO REALITIES
2022 - exibart - Videoarte dall’Ucraina al Maxxi: Chain Reaction, con un’intervista ai curatori
2022 - Radio Svoboda, interview - Інтимна документалістика Зої Лактіонової
2022 - Bird in flight - У Болгарії презентують проєкт «Галерея у вікні», присвячений роботам українських художників
2021 - Interview - "«ТЕРИТОРІЯ ПУСТИХ ВІКОН»: РЕЖИСЕРКА ЗОЯ ЛАКТІОНОВА ПРО СВІЙ НОВИЙ ФІЛЬМ"
2021 - MUHi 2009-2021, exhibition catalogue. Language: ukrainian.
Selected Screenings:
2023 - MUMOK, Vienna (Austria)
2023 - Art in Time of War: Celebrating the Resilience of Ukrainian Culture, New York (USA)
2023 - The Infinity of War, Paris (France)
2023 - Remember the Smell of Mariupol - Oldenburgisches Staatsteater (Germany)
2023 - Re : covering horizons, Bremen (Germany)
2023 - Her Docs Forum, Warsaw (Poland)
2022 - What drives us - Centre Pompidou, Paris (France)
2022 - Cité internationale des arts, Paris (France)
2022 - My childhood is in the city that no longer exists -Barcelona, (Spain)
2022 - Microscope Gallery, New York (USA)
Workshops
2023 - Перетворення особистого досвіду у кіно , America House Lviv (Ukraine)
2021 - Documentary storytelling - workshop for LGBT-teenagers in Mariupol, Platforma TU (Ukraine)
2020 - Cinematography of a motion workshop, Kyiv (Ukraine)