Biography
Angelina Yurievna Nikonova (Russian: Ангелина Юрьевна Никонова; born February 27, 1976, in Rostov-on-Don as Angelina Fedoseenko) is a Russian filmmaker, television director, and film producer active in both Russia and the USA. Raised in Rostov-on-Don in southern Russia, Angelina had aspired to be a film director since childhood. However, the landscape of Russian national film production is challenging, especially for women. As Angelina has noted, "Women as film directors are rarely trusted." Additionally, Russian audiences tend to prefer Hollywood films over domestic productions. She applied to the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography (VGIK), but later remarked that immigrating to the USA was easier than gaining acceptance into VGIK. In 2001, she graduated from the New York School of Visual Arts with a major in Film and Video.
Her diploma short film "Isosceles" (2001) received awards at the Saint Anna International Student Film Festival in Moscow and at the Cineview International Festival of Experimental Films in Florida, USA. In 2006, her full-length Russian-American documentary "Point of Return" premiered. Her first feature film, "Twilight Portrait," co-written with actress Olga Dihovichnaya, premiered at the 2011 Kinotavr Open Russian Film Festival, sparking notable controversy among critics and audiences alike. Its international premiere took place in the Venice Days section of the Venice Film Festival. Nikonova produced the film herself, shooting it over 29 days on a Canon EOS 5D Mark II with a budget of $17,000. The film achieved significant success and won several awards, including the Best Debut prize at the 2011 Warsaw International Film Festival. Due to the film's stark realism and authenticity, colleagues dubbed Nikonova "Lars von Trier in a skirt." Concurrently, she served as an organizer for the International Film Festival 2morrow/Zavtra. In 2014, Nikonova directed her second feature, the English-language comedy "Welcome Home," which focuses on the lives of Russian-speaking immigrants in New York. The film premiered at the 2015 Karlovy Vary Film Festival.
