Biography

Xenia Grubstein was born on the Pacific island of Sakhalin, and currently resides in New York. Xenia is a civil rights activist and has worked for global non-profits like Greenpeace and Doctors without Borders, while also donating her time to causes such as LGBTQ rights, freedom of speech and freedom from corruption, and animal rights. She has worked as a journalist and has been involved in print, video and online production since 1998 for DirecTV, SVT, The Moscow Times, Esquire, GQ and Rolling Stone, among many others. As a film journalist, she has interviewed Angelina Jolie, Leonardo DiCaprio, Steven Spielberg and Julia Roberts, to name just a few.

In 2013 Xenia associate produced Pussy Riot - A Punk Prayer (2013), which received the Special Jury Award at Sundance 2013 along with various other festival awards that year, and was consequently short-listed for an Academy Award in the Documentary Feature category. That inspired Xenia to focus on stories of empowered women.

In 2019 Xenia completed Catatumbo Stories (2019), her documentary debut about peace process and social justice in Colombia with emphasis on women's side of the story. In her work Xenia highlights first-person accounts of the society's underdogs, while exposing the plight of often overlooked communities. Her goal is to give voice to those deprived of it, especially if they identify as women or non-binary. Xenia's previous experience of activism and journalism is very instrumental in that. Her work has been supported by Open Society and Bertha foundations among other international organizations.

Currently Xenia is in post-production of her documentary Mayor Dana of Park City dedicated to the story of the most progressive politician in the US history, Park City, Utah mayor Dana Williams (2002-2014).
- IMDb mini biography by: self