Elena Trencheva

Dr. Elena Trencheva holds a Ph.D. from the National Academy of Theatre and Film Arts (NATFA) in Sofia, Bulgaria, on Semiotics of Costume in Science-Fiction Film (2008). The dissertation focuses on the reading and interpretation of costumes in science fiction film from a phenomenological and a semiotic perspective. The thesis was funded by The National Culture Fund, Bulgaria, and was published under the title From Metropolis to the Matrix (in Bulgarian). She mainly researches and publishes on costume design for film, while being also an active costume and production designer.

Elena was a Post-doctoral researcher in Costume Design at Aalto University, Finland (2013–15). During this time she conducted research on the topic “Representations of Finnish identity in early Finnish cinema 1919-1929” and participated in the research project “Costume Methodologies – Building Methodological Tools for Research in the Field of Costume Design”, funded by the Finnish Academy of Sciences. She was the curator of the exhibition “Told by costume/Puvut kertovat”, held at Orion Cinema, Helsinki, March 2015. Currently she is a Professor of Production Design and Costume Design for Film at NATFA.