Olga Lucovnicova (Moldova, 1991) is an award-winning documentary filmmaker based in Belgium. She won the Golden Bear at the 71st Berlin International Film Festival, the 35th European Film Academy Awards, Best Short Film at the 62nd Festival dei Popoli, Best Director at Astra Film Festival, Big Stamp at ZagrebDox, Grand Prix at Vilnius International Short Film Festival, among many others. Her latest film, "My Uncle Tudor" (2020), premiered at the Berlinale, screened at over 50 festivals worldwide, won 35 awards, and was acquired by VRT and YLE for broadcasts.
In her films, Olga aims to prompt viewers to engage in critical thinking and reflection about our world. Beginning with a very personal and intimate point of view through first-person narration, she addresses politically induced collective tragedies that persist unresolved in society. Her filming style combines observational cinema with poetic elements, where human tragedy intersects with everyday anecdotal moments.
Olga holds a Master's Degree in Documentary Film Directing from DocNomads Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Program, delivered by a consortium of three prominent European universities in Portugal, Hungary, and Belgium. Currently pursuing a PhD in Media Studies at KU Leuven, her research project on post-memory and transgenerational trauma in post-Soviet society was funded by The Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO).
In addition to her artistic and academic work, Olga has served on juries for several international documentary film festivals and given lectures on first-person filmmaking at various European universities.
Membership
2022 - present - The European Film Academy
2020 - present - deAuteurs, the Flemish collective of authors
2017- present - The Moldavian Union of Cinematographers (MUC)
Artistic Awards (selective)
European Film Academy Award for best short film 2021, European Academy Awards 34th Edition (Germany, 2021).
Golden Bear for best short film at the Berlin International Film Festival 71st Edition (Germany, 2021).
Short of the year 2021 at Short Film Conference at the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival.
Best Short Film at 62nd Festival dei Popoli – International Documentary Film Festival, Italy 2021
Best Short Documentary at Ismailia International Film Festival, 22nd Edition, Egypt 2021
Golden Chair for Best Short Documentary at Norwegian Short Film Festival, 44th Edition, Norway 2021
Grand Prix at 15th Vilnius International Short Film Festival, Lithuania, 2022
Big Stamp for Best Short Film in the regional competition at ZagrebDox, Croatia 2021
Best European Short Film at Sarajevo Film Festival, Bosnia and Herzegovina 2021
Best Director at Astra Film Festival, Romania 2021
Best Short Documentary at Guanajuato International Film Festival, Mexico
Best International Short at Riga International Film Festival, 22nd Edition, Latvia.
Best Short Film at Beldocs International Documentary Film Festival, 13th Edition, Serbia
Grand Prix of the International Competition at Femina International Women's Film Festival 2022, Brazil.
Best Short at the Olympia International Film Festival for Children and Young People 24th Edition, Greece 2022.
Deframed Prize at Kurzfilm Hamburg, Germany 2021
WildCard Award for the best Flemish documentary student film, worth 40.000 EUR offered by the
Flanders Audiovisual Fund (VAF) for the project development and production of the next film.
(Belgium, 2020).
Academic Awards (selective)
PhD Fellowship in fundamental research 2021-2025 awarded by the Research Foundation Flanders in Belgium for the research project titled "Filming Memory/Filming My Family: Intergenerational Trauma and Prosthetic Memory of WWII in Post-Soviet Society".
Erasmus Mundus Scholarship 2018-2020 awarded by the European Commission to pursue studies in Documentary Film Directing at DocNomads Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Program, delivered by a consortium of three prominent European universities across three countries: Portugal, Hungary, and Belgium.
Filmography (selective)
Last Letters from My Grandma (in production)
creative documentary, 90 min, Belgium, Netherlands, Romania, Moldova, 2025
Object 817
creative documentary, 22 min, Belgium, 2023
World Premiere at Sundance 2024
My Uncle Tudor
creative documentary, 20 min, Belgium, Portugal, Hungary, 2021
World Premiere at Berlinale 2022
The Act of Collecting
comedy documentary, 11 min, Belgium, Portugal, Hungary, 2019
It's Not the End
creative documentary, 20 min, Belgium, Portugal, Hungary, 2018
World Premiered at FIDF Cronograf, XV edition
The Desert Waves
creative documentary, 20 min, Latvia, 2018
World Premiere at Seri de Cronograf 2018
I Do Not Hate You, Death
poetic documentary, 12 min, Moldova, 2016
World Premiere at FIDF Cronograf, XIII edition
One Little Rowan Branch
documentary, 9 min, Moldova 2012
World Premiere at FIDF Cronograf, XII edition
Publications
Lucovnicova, O. Semiotica peisajului urban în filmul poetic moldovenesc. Comunicări științifice ale
doctoranzilor din domeniul științelor socio-umane. Arad: Universitatea Vlaicu Pârcălab (Accepted
for publication in 2021).
Lucovnicova, O., Druc, V., Tipa, V. Pitorescul și pictorialismul în fotografia alb-negru. Exemple din
fotografia națională. Studiul artelor și culturologie: istorie, teorie, practică. Chișinău: Academia de
Muzică, Teatru și Arte Plastice (Accepted for publication in 2021).
Lucovnicova, O. (2020). Expresia artistică a arhitecturii În filmele anilor 1896 – 1930. In: L.
Condraticova, Patrimoniul cultural de ieri - implicații în dezvoltarea societății durabile de mâine
(229-236). Chișinău: Academia de Științe a Moldovei. ISSN 2558 – 894X.
Lucovnicova, O. (2017). Films based on Holocaust photo and video archives – a powerful teaching
tool in creating an open, tolerant and democratic society. In: M., Barkahan, K., Datashvili, S.,
Samovarova (Eds.), Holocaust and Modern Radicalism (221-235). Riga: Society “Shamir”.