Vladlena Sandu
Vladlena Sandu | |
|---|---|
| Born | Vladlena Olegovna Sandu August 17, 1982 Feodosia, Crimea (then Soviet Union) |
| Alma mater | Rodchenko School of Photography and Multimedia; VGIK |
| Occupations | Film director, screenwriter |
| Years active | 2012–present |
| Notable work | Holy God (2016); Eight Images from the Life of Nastya Sokolova (2018); Memory (2025) |
| Website | vladlenasandu |
Vladlena Olegovna Sandu (Russian: Владлена Олеговна Санду; born 17 August 1982) is a Crimea-born film director, screenwriter and theatre maker whose work explores memory, war and displacement.[1][2]
After the start of the full-scale Russo-Ukrainian War in 2022, she relocated to the Netherlands and is based in Amsterdam.
Early life and education
Sandu was born on 17 August 1982 in Feodosia and moved in childhood to Grozny after her parents’ divorce. She later described growing up amid the Chechen wars as formative for her work.[1] She studied at the Rodchenko School of Photography and Multimedia in Moscow, later completing directing studies at the VGIK under Alexey Uchitel. She subsequently trained in theatre with Boris Yukhananov.[2] In 2019, Sandu entered VGIK postgraduate studies in aesthetics and cultural theory and published scholarly essays related to film and culture.[2][3]
Career
Sandu’s student works circulated on the Russian festival circuit before drawing international attention with Holy God (2016), a documentary short about three generations of women displaced from Grozny. The film screened internationally and won the Movies that Matter Award at ZagrebDox 2017.[4][5] Her short Eight Images from the Life of Nastya Sokolova (2018) premiered in the 2018 edition of the International Film Festival Rotterdam and later received the Silver Eye Award (short documentary category) from the Institute of Documentary Film at Ji.hlava’s East Silver Market.[6][7][8]
From 2019 to 2022, Sandu co-created and worked as screenwriter, director and creative producer on the drama series Identification, which follows a young Russian woman who converts to Islam and confronts social frictions.[9][10]
In 2022, she completed the short No Nation Without Culture, which screened at goEast in 2023 and won the RheinMain Short Film Award.[11][12][13]
Memory (2025)
Sandu’s first feature-length documentary Memory received support from the Netherlands Film Fund + IDFA Bertha Fund Co-Production Scheme and was later presented as a Work-in-Progress at Visions du Réel Industry in April 2025.[14][15][16]
The film premiered as the opening film of Giornate degli Autori at the 82nd Venice Film Festival. Damon Wise of Deadline Hollywood characterised it as a harrowing wartime memoir that fuses Sandu’s on-screen presence with stark imagery to evoke the rupture of childhood,[17] and Elsa Keslassy of Variety described it as a personal film rooted in Sandu’s Chechen-war childhood.[18] The film received the section’s People’s Choice Award (ex aequo).[19][20][21]
Filmography
- Diyana (2012)[22]
- Kira (2015)[25]
- Tamerlan’s Love (2015)[26]
- Holy God (2016)[4]
- Eight Images from the Life of Nastya Sokolova (2018)[6]
- No Nation Without Culture (2022)[11]
- Memory (2025)[27]
Festivals and awards
| Year | Festival | Film | Award | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Kinotavr (Short Film Competition) | Kira | Special Jury Diploma (for the "completeness of the artistic expression") | [29][30] |
| 2015 | VGIK International Student Film Festival | Kira | Best Director; Best Cinematography | [31][5] |
| 2016 | Apricot Tree International Documentary Film Festival | Holy God | Grand Prix – Best Short Film | [31] |
| 2016 | International Festival Signes de Nuit | Holy God | Special Mention – Night Award | [31] |
| 2017 | ZagrebDox | Holy God | Movies That Matter Award | [32][33] |
| 2018 | Silver Eye Awards (IDF/Ji.hlava) | Eight Images from the Life of Nastya Sokolova | Silver Eye Award – Best Short Documentary | [34] |
| 2023 | GoEast – RheinMain Short Film Award | No Nation Without Culture | Winner | [11] |
| 2023 | Amsterdam Fringe Festival | The Rainbow Cinema (theatre) | Best of Fringe 2023 | [35] |
| 2025 | Venice Days (Giornate degli Autori) | Memory | People’s Choice Award (ex aequo) | [36] |
References
- ^ a b Ставрогин, Соломон (18 April 2022). "Владлена Санду: «Я снимаю лишь тех людей, которых люблю»". Радио Свобода (in Russian). Retrieved 21 September 2025.
- ^ a b c "Vladlena Sandu — Biography". Institute of Documentary Film (DOKweb). Retrieved 21 September 2025.
- ^ "MEMORY — Opening film". Giornate degli Autori.
- ^ a b "ZagrebDox Announces List of Winners". Film New Europe. 3 June 2017. Retrieved 21 September 2025.
- ^ a b "Holy God". Internationales Frauenfilmfest Dortmund+Köln. Retrieved 21 September 2025.
- ^ a b "Rotterdam 2018 Lineup". The Criterion Collection — Current. 15 December 2017. Retrieved 21 September 2025.
- ^ "Vacancy and Timebox win big at Ji.hlava". Cineuropa. 30 October 2018. Retrieved 21 September 2025.
- ^ "Eight Images from the Life of Nastya Sokolova". DOKweb. Retrieved 21 September 2025.
- ^ "«Идентификация»: сериал о девушке, которая поняла, что ей не нравится жить с теми, кто ее окружает". Meduza (in Russian). 26 March 2019. Retrieved 21 September 2025.
- ^ "«Конкретный человек может быть чужим, но нельзя обобщать до "чужих"»". Коммерсантъ (in Russian). 11 February 2022. Retrieved 21 September 2025.
- ^ a b c "Winners of 23rd goEast – Festival of Central and Eastern European Film". Film New Europe. 5 March 2023. Retrieved 21 September 2025.
- ^ "No Nation Without Culture – Rencontres Internationales Loods6/Amsterdam – New Cinema & Contemporary Art". Rencontres Internationales Amsterdam.
- ^ "No Nation Without Culture (2022)". MUBI. Retrieved 21 September 2025.
- ^ "Two documentaries supported by the Netherlands Film Fund and IDFA Bertha Fund Co-Production Scheme". Nederlands Filmfonds. 25 April 2023. Retrieved 21 September 2025.
- ^ "Anastasiya Miroshnichenko's Welded Together and Vladlena Sandu's Memory receive NFF + IBF funding". IDFA Professionals. Retrieved 21 September 2025.
- ^ "Work-in-Progress Projects at Visions du Réel". Variety. 8 April 2025. Retrieved 21 September 2025.
- ^ "'Memory' Review: Crimean-Born Director Vladlena Sandu Mourns Innocence Lost in a Harrowing War-Time Memoir – Venice Film Festival". Deadline Hollywood. 27 August 2025. Retrieved 21 September 2025.
- ^ "Venice Days Opening Film 'Memory' Boarded by Loco Films". Variety. 25 July 2025. Retrieved 21 September 2025.
- ^ "Giornate degli Autori's GdA Director's Award goes to Inside Amir by Iran's Amir Azizi". Cineuropa. 5 September 2025. Retrieved 21 September 2025.
- ^ "Венеция-2025. «Память» Владлены Санду и «Короткое лето» Насти Коркии — два дебюта режиссерок из России". Meduza (in Russian). 5 September 2025. Retrieved 21 September 2025.
- ^ "Venice 2025 review: Memory (Vladlena Sandu)". ICS (International Cinephile Society). 27 August 2025. Retrieved 21 September 2025.
- ^ "Diyana". Artdoc.Media. Retrieved 21 September 2025.
- ^ "Орловы (Orlovs)". Artdoc.Media (in Russian).
- ^ "Лавровая ветвь 2013 — «Орловы» (credits listing)". Лавровая ветвь (in Russian). Retrieved 21 September 2025.
- ^ "На «Кинотавре» подвели итоги конкурса «Короткий метр»". Kino-Teatr.ru (News) (in Russian). 11 June 2015.
- ^ "Tamerlan's Love". Artdoc.Media.
- ^ "Giornate degli Autori Unveils 2025 Selection". Deadline Hollywood. 24 July 2025.
- ^ De Pablos, Emiliano (3 November 2025). "Valladolid's 70th Seminci Crowns Kelly Reichardt's 'The Mastermind' and Lav Díaz's 'Magellan'". Variety.
- ^ "Победителем конкурса «Кинотавр. Короткий метр» стал фильм «Настя»". TASS (in Russian). 11 June 2015.
- ^ "Стал известен лучший короткометражный фильм «Кинотавра»". Interfax (in Russian). 11 June 2015.
- ^ a b c "Holy God – International Competition". ZagrebDox. 2017.
- ^ "List of Awarded Films – 2017". ZagrebDox.
- ^ "FESTIVALS: The Dazzling Light of Sunset Wins the 13th ZagrebDox". Film New Europe. 5 March 2017.
- ^ "Silver Eye Award 2018 in short category announced". Institute of Documentary Film (DOKweb). 29 October 2018.
- ^ "Winners Best of Fringe Awards 2023!!!". Amsterdam Fringe Festival. September 2023.
- ^ "Palmarès 2025". Giornate degli Autori. 5 September 2025.