Darya Zhuk
The Belarus-born director Darya Zhuk started her career at HBO as a business analyst before obtaining her MFA with honors from Columbia University with a specialty in directing. Her debut feature film, "Crystal Swan," was Belarus' first entry into the Academy Award's Best Foreign Language category in 22 years.
"Crystal Swan" opened the prestigious Karlovy Vary "East of the West" competition and won many prizes, such as the Grand Prix at the Odessa Film Festival, the Grand Prix at the Tbilisi International Film Festival, and the Youth Jury Award at the Cork Film Festival, among others, before premiering in North America at Slamdance FF in 2019.
Short films Darya wrote and directed have been selected for SXSW, Tarkovsky, Atlanta, Palm Springs, Oaxaca, and Santa Fe independent film festivals, to name just a few. She received the Nick Louvel Breakthrough Filmmaker Award and the Best Female Writer-Director Award from New York Women in Film and Television in 2015.
Director, screenwriter, producer
Filmography
Little America (TV series) — Space Door episode, 33 min.
The Premise (TV series) — The Commenter episode, 31 min.
Crystal Swan, 93 min.
Like a Dream
The Real American, 12 min.
What Doesn’t Kill You, 17 min.
Eat the Tourists, 5 min.
WAX, 15 min.
Half-Life, 16 min.
The Air Inside Her, 8 min.
The Premise (TV series) — The Commenter episode, 31 min.
Crystal Swan, 93 min.
Like a Dream
The Real American, 12 min.
What Doesn’t Kill You, 17 min.
Eat the Tourists, 5 min.
WAX, 15 min.
Half-Life, 16 min.
The Air Inside Her, 8 min.
2022
2021
2018
2016
2015
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2021
2018
2016
2015
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
The Air Inside Her
When six-year-old Katya explores the experience of death, she discovers life like she has never it seen before.