Biography
Darya Levchenko is a festival programmer, film researcher, cultural manager, and translator. Since 2023, she has been curating the New Talents program for the PÖFF Shorts section of the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival. She was also the program coordinator of Docudays UA International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival in Kyiv, Ukraine, from 2022 to 2024.
Darya works on several book translation projects and coordinates cultural diplomacy, humanitarian aid, and international cooperation projects in Ukraine as a National Officer for Culture at UNESCO in Kyiv, Ukraine. Her main concerns now are preserving Ukraine's creative economy during the full-scale Russian invasion and facilitating her country's participation in the international film circuit.
Darya's previous film curatorial experience includes programming for the AFI Theater and Cultural Center and screening duties for FilmFestDC.
Ms. Levchenko holds an MA in Film Studies (North Carolina State University, Raleigh, USA) and a double MA in Foreign Languages from Zaporizhzhia National University, Ukraine, and Tallinn University, Estonia. Her research on film festivals, science fiction film and literature, educational innovations, and the history of national cinemas has been published and presented in the United States and Ukraine. She is an alumna of the Fulbright, Edmund S. Muskie, and Erasmus academic exchange programs. 2018 Full Frame, 2023 Cannes Makers and 2024 Festival Academy Fellow.
