Volia Chajkouskaya

Founder & Director, Northern Lights Institute

Estonia

Volia Chajkouskaya is a filmmaker and founder of the Northern Lights Institute, an organization dedicated to fostering cultural resilience and democratic transformation through independent cinema. Volia is also the co-founder of the Belarusian Independent Film Academy, which unites creators to speak with a collective voice against censorship and authoritarian narratives. Her work gives people access to films they would otherwise may never see by preserving banned and suppressed cinema and bringing international films to audiences through the Northern Lights Film Festival. Drawing on her roots as a language activist, Volia coordinates filmmakers across borders to protect artistic freedom and national identity through high-impact initiatives like the Artists for Andrei campaign, where she mobilized nearly 1,500 global industry leaders to free Belarusian filmmaker Andrei Hnyot from prison. Volia also works in Allfilm production as a producer and director, where she uses cinema as part of her activism, showing how one can push back against authoritarian pressure and keep people connected in difficult conditions through storytelling.