Žanete Skarule is a Riga-born filmmaker. Over the years, she has worked in film production in New York and Los Angeles, where she also earned an M.F.A. in Film Directing from the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts). Žanete works across various genres and techniques — fiction, documentary, experimental, and, most recently, virtual reality. Filmmakers like Jonas Mekas, regarded as the godfather of avant-garde cinema, have had a significant influence on her artistic practice. Žanete worked in Mekas’ New York-based studio until 2012, when she began her journey as a filmmaker with her award-winning debut feature documentary Flying Monks Temple (2017). She has directed several short films, including the poetry film Fable (2019), the fiction short film No Regrets (2022), the UK Music Video Awards winning video for Zebra Katz’s MOOR (2021) and, most recently, the magical realism short film Big Loop – Small Loop (2025).

Winter in Mazunte [co-written with Tomas Vengris] — Alma abandons her life in the Baltics to seek meaning among the gurus, drugs, raves, and cuddle-parties of Oaxaca, Mexico, but when things get serious, the facade of love and inclusion crumbles as Alma must confront herself and what she is really seeking.