About

Moscow-raised, Toronto-based award-winning filmmaker Nika Belianina has an MA in Social Psychology and has been making music videos, fiction, and documentary films since 2005. Her work has been screened at over 80 film festivals around the world including Tribeca, Scheffield Doc Fest, Cinefest Sudbury, Atlanta and Sao Paulo. Switching creative hats when needed, Nika writes, directs, and occasionally edits and co-produces. She has created projects in Chile, Georgia, Kenya, Mexico, Romania, Peru, USA, and Canada. An avid visual storyteller, prior to focusing on directing, Nika worked as a lighting technician and props person on numerous television series, MOW’s and feature films. She has also camera operated on shoots for the Government of Canada, on the Indigenous territories in Canada, USA and Peru, for the BBC Studios, Ruptly.tv, Joss Whedon and others. A recipient of international artist residencies, Nika has also taught film and photography to students in Montana, Nebraska, Wyoming, Ontario and Moscow. She has shadowed directors on television series The Wire (HBO), Taken (NBC), Private Eyes (Global, eOne), and is a past recipient of the WIFT Toronto scholarship to attend BANFF and the RBC Yorkton filmmaker mentorship. Nika’s critically acclaimed photographic work has been showcased at over 25 exhibitions around the world.