Alexandra Ovtchinnikova

Alexandra Ovtchinnikova is a costume designer, researcher and Doctor of Arts graduate from Aalto University, Department of Film. Her research interests lie primarily in the area of film costume, specifically on the subjects of poetic, slow, and art-house cinema. Alexandra has written her doctoral thesis and has published articles on the subject of costume design in Soviet poetic cinema, which reflect her affinity with the films that for various reasons land on the margins of the mainstream costume design for film discourse, and specifically with the way costume operates in such film spaces. She lives and works between Bulgaria and Finland. 

Alexandra Ovtchinnikova’s doctoral research explored the functions of costume in the films of four directors of the Soviet Poetic School: Sergei Parajanov, Andrei Tarkovsky, Yuri Ilyenko and Tengiz Abuladze. It examined the ways in which costume contributes to the fabrication of the purely mental reconstruction of the mythical universe on the basis of a historical and ethnographic reality in their films. The research highlights the key learnings from a historically significant period in the Soviet cinema (1960s -1980s) which was often defined by the tendency to link national particularity with stylistic experimentation. It demonstrates that costume can be used not only as a device to support the storytelling and make the cinematic experience comfortable, but also as a poetic device that helps create a challenging journey for the viewer’s perception while retaining its dramaturgical qualities. The methods of the study are designed to provide valuable insight into the viability of the hybrid approach of art and practice in academia, and how these angles can be leveraged to expand and enhance future studies. By employing the set of methodologies that are both academically and artistically grounded, Alexandra attempts to reflect upon the functions costume attains within the cinema of poetry.