P.O.V

My name is Oksana. Throughout my life, cinematography and literature have been a leitmotif. I started writing prose and poetry at the age of 11-12. But my love for cinema emerged even earlier, in a dying village at the foot of the mountains in Kazakhstan, where my grandmother, Anna Daithe, was once exiled. She is my source of inspiration, a person with a steely character. I was about four years old when I first watched the film "Alien." 1979 It left a deep impression on me.

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My name is Oksana. Throughout my life, cinematography and literature have been a leitmotif. I started writing prose and poetry at the age of 11-12. But my love for cinema emerged even earlier, in a dying village at the foot of the mountains in Kazakhstan, where my grandmother, Anna Daithe, was once exiled. She is my source of inspiration, a person with a steely character. I was about four years old when I first watched the film "Alien." 1979 It left a deep impression on me.

In sixth grade, I told my parents that I was going to become a director. To put it mildly, they were not thrilled. But I was sure of my choice, although I didn’t yet know that my path would stretch over eight years. Secretly from my family, I applied to a directing program in Kazakhstan and was accepted based on my scores. I was preparing to apply in Russia, but each time I was pushed back: I had to urgently start earning money. I moved around while my homeland was in turmoil. I had to protect myself and my mother from threats and persecution.

During this time, I gained immense experience: I lived in three world capitals, including Bogotá, Colombia. Over my life, I’ve moved nine times. I worked in a casino, at Exmo Publishing, one of the top fifty publishing houses in the world. I also worked as a fitness trainer, which allowed me to work abroad. Then I gave it all up and tried again. I honed my skills by taking screenwriting courses at the “Industry” film school and at the All-Russian State University of Cinematography (VGIK), all while gaining practical experience.

Since 2022, several projects I had been developing since the start of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict became unfeasible due to censorship. I also directed short films. I managed to gather a team of 15 people, united by altruism and a shared love of cinema. During the second shift, the group, made up almost entirely of men, learned about the start of the mobilization. No one left the set. However, the final shift at a challenging location had to be canceled. It was impossible to quickly find a new one. Key members of the team left. I was left with rough cuts from two shifts. Later, I found out that my cameraman had received a military summons during filming. He knew about it but chose to stay. Currently, a short film for SAE University, where I participated as a screenwriter, is being edited in Europe. Cinema and literature are the fields through which I want to tell the audience that they are not alone in their experiences. I continue to develop my own projects and co-write with others, and I occasionally work as an editor.

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