Our Team
Theater
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Film
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Anna Zinenko
Founder and director
Combining her training in dance and theater with her degrees in Philology from Kyiv National University of Taras Shevchenko and in Communications from Baruch College, Anna founded the nonprofit Locus29 to support and highlight Eastern European artists and filmmakers. With a primary focus on creating opportunities for intellectual engagement through screenings and discussions, Locus29 has become a platform that unites projects in Slavic languages with diverse audiences through the medium of film.
Selena Valyavkina
Director of Programming
Selena is a film curator and a psychologist based in Tbilisi, Georgia. She has been programming, lecturing, and interpreting for international film festivals for nearly two decades. She is particularly interested in mixed-genre where the author's vision is shown in an offbeat way. Currently, she combines her experience in the film industry with a career in psychology. She uses film as a projective tool in personal and group therapy to help clients reflect on their life.
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Sarah O'Donnell
Media Manager
Sarah O’Donnell hails originally from Australia. As a graduate of the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), she has performed extensively in theatre, television, film and radio. She has also lived and taught in Russia, The Netherlands and now the US, working as the media coordinator for an international astronomy outreach organisation, and developing educational programs for historic sites reimagining history, mathematics, architecture, the landscape. Her passion for Slavic culture led her to Locus 29, where she has joined the team collating and curating the work of Eastern European media artists.
Dolly Lewis
Director of Operations
Dolly joined the Locus29 team in the fall of 2020. She has experience in event management, fundraising, and company management with a variety of non-profit and for-profit arts organizations. Born and raised in New Jersey, Dolly graduated from Rutgers University with a degree in Art History and Italian.
Olena Kharchenko
Curator of Ukrainian Film Program
Olena is based in Kyiv, Ukraine. She received her MA in Ukrainian language and literature, research, and editing.
She then shifted her focus to Communications in the non-profit sector. Together with her colleagues, she founded the educational platform “The critical thinking” where teachers can learn the most effective pedagogical methods. Her interests are cultural anthropology, Ukrainian cultural heritage, cinematography, and modern art.