Katya Skakun is a New York-based filmmaker who grew up in a small town on the Barents Sea in the Russian Arctic. Before starting her career in film, she was part of the founding team of a trend-setting chain of bookstores in Moscow. She soon opted to make a radical change and move to New York to study acting, and she eventually moved into directing. In 2018 she attended the Documentary Summer School at the Locarno Film Festival. She also participated in the 2019 Cannes Film Festival as part of Columbia University’s producing initiative. In 2020, Katya earned an M.F.A. in Film at Columbia University’s School of the Arts. Her filmography as a writer and director includes the short films Get Together (2016), Baggage (2017), Dave (2018) and Hands (2020), among others. Katya is currently developing The Multi-Armed, her first feature film.

The Multi-Armed — After her domineering husband breaks her arm, a mother of two learns how to resist through the power of magic.