Photo Credit: Tanya Sush
Please introduce yourself.
My name is Diana Galimzyanova, I’m a filmmaker and video artist from Moscow, Russia.
What is it that attracts you the horror genre for your chosen field of creative work?
I’ve always been a person who’s into dark things, be it music, film, books, or art. I think horror is a liberating genre because it allows you to embrace your dark side without being arrested.
Who inspires you in your work and in life?
Art inspires me a lot, being a contemporary artist I try to incorporate art things into my work as a filmmaker. And I also like to mix horror elements into my work as an artist, especially when I do performance art, like, for example, my recent work «Runs in the Family» that borrows from horror a lot stylistic wise.
Women in horror have made great strides, but it’s clear that a lot of work is still needed to make it a most inclusive genre. To you, what is the importance of a movement like Women in Horror Month?
I think raising awareness is extremely important. Most people still have no idea about the number of female directors working in horror, and I’m not even talking about non-white female directors who are still marginalized and less-known.
What would you tell an up-and-coming creative in the world of horror who sees that being a woman/identifying as a women as something that makes it so much more difficult at times?
You should believe in yourself and your work and be ready to fight for it, but eventually, we will rise. Telling the stories from the female point of view in the genre where for decades girls used to be mere victims without agency is extremely important.
What are your favorite bits of helpful advice that you have received about your work or your field?
Learn how to collaborate with other people because film is a collaborative medium and learn how to listen to other people. It doesn’t necessarily mean to do what they say because your vision as a film director is the most important thing, but listening to the other point of view could improve your vision and help you to make a better film.
In honor of celebrating Women in Horror Month, who do you believe viewers should keep an eye on in terms of the creative ladies in horror?
I think it’s important to know the women who were before us, like for example Ida Lupino’s The Hitch-Hiker the 53 serial killer film which was the first film noir directed by a woman and I don’t think it’s getting the recognition it deserves these days.
What do you have coming soon that you can talk to us about?
I’m finalizing the script for my second feature, a feminist horror-comedy Murder Girl. It’s a transmedia story about a narcissistic serial killer blogger that includes blogs, a music video, a short film, a theatre performance, and that will conclude in a feature film. You can find out more about the project here murdergirliswatchingyou.tumblr.com. I’m also working on a no-budget trash experimental feature “Plan 9 from Alixpress” that will have elements of horror in it but mostly will be a bizarre black comedy that bends the narrative norms. We’re gonna be shooting it this summer.
Pop them links to follow your work here:
https://www.instagram.com/paakojsimpson/