Extremist Alice

Vladlena Sandu was born in 1982 in Crimea, Ukraine (then part of the USSR), her father’s homeland. Following her parents’ divorce in 1989, she moved to her mother’s hometown, Grozny, in the Chechen Republic. In 1994, the Chechen War began, and Sandu spent four formative years growing up amidst war. In 1998, she and her family became internally displaced, relocating to mainland Russia in Georgievsk, Caucasus. Although the war formally ended in 2004, Russian propaganda continues to refer to it as a "special military operation."

Sandu’s artistic education is extensive. She graduated from the Rodchenko Art School in 2011 and earned a degree in Film Directing from VGIK (Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography) in 2016. She further deepened her expertise by completing postgraduate studies in 2019, focusing on Art, Aesthetics, History, and Theory of Culture, during which she published several academic articles. That same year, she also completed the Boris Yukhananov Studio in Theatre Direction.

Sandu’s work has been widely recognized. Her short fiction film, Kira, received the Jury's Special Mention and Critics' Choice awards at Kinotavr 2015 (Russia), along with awards for Best Directing and Best Cinematography at the VGIK International Film Festival. Her graduation documentary, Holy God, recounting her memories of the Chechen War, screened at numerous international festivals, including DOK Leipzig and the Rotterdam International Film Festival, earning several awards.

Her next project, Eight Images from the Life of Nastya Sokolova, premiered at the Rotterdam Film Festival and received the 2018 Silver Eye Award from the Institute of Documentary Film (Czech Republic).

From 2019 to 2022, Sandu served as writer, director, and creative producer of the arthouse series Identification (8x52 minutes), which premiered at the Berlinale in 2022. 

Following the start of Russia’s war against Ukraine in March 2022, Sandu fled Russia, where her critical projects could not be created freely. Now based in Amsterdam, she finalized No Nation Without Culture, which has been selected at numerous festivals and won Best Short Film at GoEast IFF 2023 (Germany).

In 2023, Sandu also created and directed The Rainbow Cinema, an autobiographical stage performance that premiered in Amsterdam. It was awarded the Best Amsterdam Fringe Award in 2023.

Donna Demoon is a self-taught, multifaceted artist from Rotterdam, now based in Haarlem, the Netherlands. 

She began her career as a burlesque performer in 2019 and continues to develop herself as a fearless female trans artist, embracing drag, performance activism, acting, modelling, and music. Known for her bold approach. Donna isn’t afraid to “get down and dirty” to drive her message home. 

Her work has included Amsterdam Fashion Week, Amsterdam Fringe Festival, and Carmen the Opera (Hopelezz Edition) at Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ. She has also performed at renowned festivals such as Milkshake, Best Kept Secret, and Zwarte Cross.

Looking ahead, Donna is set on expanding  through theatre and creative collaborations, with her current focus being on her music. As she continues to evolve, music will mark the final evolution of her artistry, and she is eager to share this next chapter with the world.

Polina Mirovskaya is a dance artist and movement director currently based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Born in Russia, she began her career studying Folk Dance and Dance Pedagogy at the Moscow College of the Arts before pursuing Contemporary Dance at Codarts Rotterdam, where she was awarded the Dansfonds Corrie Hartong scholarship.

During her time with Codarts Dance Company, Polina performed works by world-renowned choreographers at the Holland Dance Festival and took part in a new creation by Lucinda Childs for Rotterdam’s initiative Big Idea #01.

In the 2020–2021 season, Polina was part of LeineRoebana Dance Company.

As an independent dancer and maker she became a core collaborator in Alexis Blake’s Prix de Rome-winning 2021 piece, rock to jolt [ ] stagger to ash.

From 2022 onwards, Polina collaborated with Korzo Theater in The Hague, beginning with the new creation Work Line by Rutkay Ozpinar. This partnership led to further projects, including an international collaboration with Dance Lab New York.

As a movement director, Polina contributed to Vladlena Sandu’s autobiographical theater project, The Rainbow Cinema, which won the Best of Fringe Amsterdam 2023 award. In 2024, she reunited with Vladlena for another theater piece, Extremist Alice.