Crystal Swan – trailer

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Teaser for Crystal Swan, a feature film directed by Darya Zhuk, starting Alina Nasibullina.

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About

BIO

Darya Zhuk was born in Minsk, Belarus. She discovered filmmaking while studying economics at Harvard University. Consequently, she went on to earn her MFA with honors from Columbia University, majoring in directing.

Her debut feature film, Crystal Swan, was the first Belarusian entry into the Oscars Best International Feature Film category in 22 years. Crystal Swan premiered at Karlovy Vary and won numerous awards, including the Grand Prix at the Odessa Film Festival, the Almaty International Film Festival, and the Tbilisi International Film Festival. It also received the FIPRESCI Prize at the Bratislava International Film Festival, the Youth Jury Award at the Cork Film Festival, and several others. Additionally, she was awarded the Russian Academy Award Nika.

The short films Darya wrote and directed have been selected for prestigious festivals such as SXSW, Tarkovsky, Oaxaca, Atlanta, Palm Springs, and the Santa Fe Independent Film Festival, among others. In 2015, she received the Best Female Writer-Director Award from New York Women in Film and Television and was nominated for Best Female Director by the Adrienne Shelly Foundation. She is also the recipient of prestigious film grants, including those from the New York State Council for the Arts, the Panavision Emerging Filmmaker Grant, and the Interdisciplinary Council for the Arts at Columbia University, as well as the Nick Louvel Breakthrough Filmmaker Award.

In 2006, she founded the production company TurnstyleTV to produce her own work and support her community of filmmakers. She has produced several award-winning documentaries, as well as numerous music videos and short films.

She is co-founder of Belarusian Independent Film Academy, an organization which became an alternative to film organizations sponsored by the state. It lobbies Belarusian independent cinema worldwide.

She has directed television for major streaming platforms such as Hulu/FX, Apple, and Netflix. Most recently, she experienced the passing of her baby daughter and had to take a break. She is currently teaching directing at Columbia University in New York while residing in Brooklyn with her husband, Guy Cimbalo.

darya.zhuk at gmail.com

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