Elena Semikina

Elena Semikina is an award-winning Russian-Canadian filmmaker. As Founder and Principal of Eunoia Films Inc., she currently is developing a portfolio of documentary projects with U.S., Canadian and international interests. She conceived and executive-produced the feature documentary Our Man in Tehran, which premiered at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival and set the record straight on the Iran hostage crisis after Ben Affleck's feature film, Argo, premiered at the same festival only one year prior. Semikina also directed, produced and wrote Behind The Dress, which was nominated for the Women in Cinema Award and The Golden Door Film Festival Prize, in addition to receiving the Bronze Plaque Award at the Columbus Film Festival. Semikina's Behind the Dress records, through unprecedented access and first-hand accounts, a view beyond the traditional beauty pageant stereotypes, showing the Miss Universe(TM) competition as a vehicle for encouraging and promoting women, humanitarian outreach and transgender rights. Semikina holds a BA in Marketing & Finance from York University and, prior to entering the film industry, won the Miss Universe Canad(TM) a competition in 2010, where she then went on to represent Canada at the 2010 Miss Universe(TM) competition. In 2012, Semikina was a judge of the Miss Universe(TM) contest held in Moscow, Russia.