Natalia Sinelnikova (GER)
Authors / Film / Directors / Film / Theater
Natalia Sinelnikova is a director and screenwriter. She was born in 1989 in St. Petersburg, USSR and grew up in Germany. She studied cultural studies and aesthetic practice at the University of Hildesheim, and received a masters degree in photography, theater, and film directing at the Film University Babelsberg Konrad Wolf.
Sinelnikova is part of the Jewish artist network Dagesh and an alumna of the Ernst-Ludwig-Ehrlich Studienwerk. In 2021, she was selected for the Zurich Film Festival’s ZFF Academy. Her critically acclaimed first feature film WE MIGHT AS WELL BE DEAD celebrated its world premiere at the Berlinale 2022 and opened the Perspektive Deutsches Kino section. It screened at numerous international film festivals. The film was nominated for Best Debut and Best Screenplay by the German Film Critics’ Award, among others.
Works (selection)
WE MIGHT AS WELL BE DEAD
2022
World premiere: Berlin International Film Festival
DE, feature, 94 min, Heartwake Films, Film University Babelsberg, rbb, Medienboard
Written & directed together with Viktor Gallandi
Festivals (selection) :
75. Berliner Festspiele – Perspektive Deutsches Kino (2022), Tribeca International Film Festival (2022), Melbourne International Filmfestival (2022), Jüdisches Filmfestival Berlin Brandenburg (2022), Boston Jewish Film Festival (2022), UK Jewish Film Festival (2022), Berlin Film Week (2022) , Fantasia International Film Festival (2022), Galway Film Fleadh (2022), Fantastic Fest (2022), L‘Étrange Festival (2022), Sitges Film Festival (2022), Festival der Neue Heimatfilm Freistadt (2022), Haifa International Film Festival (2022), Lund Fantastic Film Festival (2022), UK Jewish Film Festival (2022), Boston Jewish Film Festival (2022), Leiden International Film Festival (2022), Leeds International Filmfestival (2022), Ankara Film Festival (2022), Thessaloniki IFF (2022), Manchester International Film Festival (2023), International Film Festival of Ottawa (2023), Toronto Jewish Film Festival (2023).
“An ace feature debut from the director Natalia Sinelnikova, the deadpan comedy feels like a cousin to works by Yorgos Lanthimos, an absurdist equally attentive to how confinement breeds fear and fear breeds barbarity.“ – The New York Times
“A descent into the depths of collective delusion, Natalia Sinelnikova’s mesmeric debut, WE MIGHT AS WELL BE DEAD, has all the hallmarks of a modern masterpiece […] The film announced Sinelnikova, as a distinctive new force in contemporary cinema. Markedly mature, her effortless ability depicts the societal collapse of a community with a peculiar, uncanny precision: from the insinuations of ambivalent suspicion to the maelstrom of mass paranoia.” – Ex-Berliner
A WOMAN WANTS THE BILL
2018
DE, short, 10 min
Script & direction
As part of episode movie WAITERS
Film University Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF, in cooperation with rbb
Festivals:
Independent Filmfest Osnabrück, Landshut Short Film Festival, Manchester International Filmfestival
WEEPING WILLOWS
2017
DE, short film, 24 min
Script & direction
Film University Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF, in cooperation with MDR
Festivals:
Berlin Jewish Film Festival, Moscow Jewish Film Festival, Odessa Jewish Film Festival, Jekaterinenburg Jewish Film Festival, Arcipelago Film Festival
BAJUSCHKI
2015
DE, short documentary, 6 min
Script & direction
Filmuniversität Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF, in cooperation with rbb
Festivals:
12. Achtung Berlin – new berlin film award – Kurzfilmwettbewerb, Kassel Dokfest, Sehsüchte
Filmfestival