Marysia Nikitiuk Ukranian Марися Нікітюк born in 1986 Kyiv is a Ukrainian film director screenwriter and fiction writer She wrote and directed When the Trees Fall 2018 and cowrote Homeward 2019 both of which have drawn recognition as among the best Ukrainian films Nikitiuk also directed Lucky Girl 2021 and published a collection of short fiction The Abyss 2016 which won the Oles Ulianenko International Literary Prize Nikitiuk was born in 1986 She attended Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyivs Institute of Journalism graduating in 2007 She then earned a masters degree in theater studies at Kyiv National I K KarpenkoKary Theatre Cinema and Television University focusing on Japanese theater