Biography, Education and Family

Svetlana Petriychuk was born in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, in 1980. She graduated from the Faculty of Journalism there and spent a significant part of her early adult life living and working in Russia. She studied at the Konstantin Raikin Higher School of Performing Arts under the guidance of Kama Ginkas and was trained in Mikhail Ugarov’s (Teatr.doc) course of documentary theatre.

In 2018, Sveta made her debut at the Lyubimovka Young Playwrights’ Festival with the play Tuesday is a Short Day. Over the following years, she repeatedly won and got awarded as a finalist at various competitions and festivals, including:

• LARK International Laboratory (New York)
• First Reading Festival (part of the Five Evenings Festival in honor or A. Volodin, Saint Petersburg)
• Remark International Competition (Russia)

In 2021, Sveta was among the top three winners of the Culmination Competition for her play Tuaregs. In 2022, she won the coveted Golden Mask Theater Award as Best Playwright for her play Finist the Bright Falcon.

Sveta has also taught screenwriting and playwriting courses and conducted workshops. She co-taught the Playwriting course at the Moscow Art Theater School-Studio (MHAT). She has worked as a screenwriter and director on feature and documentary films and TV series in both Russia and Kazakhstan.

In 2023, together with director Zhenya Berkovich, Sveta became a prizewinner of the “Kamerton” Prize named after Anna Politkovskaya.

Earlier in her career, Svetlana worked as a journalist. In 2013, she graduated from a film directing course at the New York Film Academy (NYFA) in Los Angeles, which enabled her to develop projects beyond Russia and to connect with the international cultural community on topics of deep meaning to her. Above all, Sveta believes that her work could help people to understand complex social issues and prevent tragedies.

Family and Personal Life

• Sveta is a devoted daughter and wife.
• Before her imprisonment, Sveta was the primary provider for her elderly parents.
• Following her arrest, Sveta’s husband, director and producer Yury Shekhvatov, has been solely responsible for bearing the costs of her legal defense and for supporting her family.