Meet the 2024 US Breakthroughs
Meet
Haiane Dzhahinian
BAFTA Vicky Deigman Scholar
Haiane Dzhahinian is a writer and director from Ukraine. She is awarded the BAFTA scholarship to support an MA in Directing Fiction at the National Film and Television School.
Haiane grew up with a single mother below the poverty line and started working at 13 to provide for her family. It gave her a first-hand experience of social inequality and the desire to resist it. She completed her BA in Documentary Filmmaking to explore the real psychology of human behaviour. She developed her knowledge on the craft of filmmaking as First Assistant Director on film and commercial sets in Ukraine over the last five years.
Haiane said:
“It’s big honour for me being awarded this scholarship from BAFTA. Not only do I feel relieved financially, but it also means a support and reassurance for my distinctive voice as a director and ability to create a film language that will be universal and not only for Ukraine. After working shifts to cover my tuition fees for first academic year, I can finally focus on developing my professional skills without financial pressure.”