Anatoli Ulyanov is a media researcher and documentary filmmaker at UCLA whose work bridges Environmental Humanities, Media Studies, and post-Soviet cultural analysis. Drawing on visual anthropology, archival research, and field-based sensory ethnography, he explores how discursive and visual narratives construct identity, mediate power, and sustain colonial and ecological legacies across regional and transnational contexts.
Ulyanov’s academic research builds on two decades of experience in media and documentary production focused on human rights and social justice. As Head of Media at the Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center, he led international initiatives addressing suppressed histories and the legacies of mass violence, developing public-facing projects that foster reconciliation and critical engagement with contested pasts. His media practice has also included collaborations with global platforms such as Dose of Society, where he produced visual storytelling projects amplifying marginalized voices and facilitating dialogue on identity, care, and inclusion.
At UCLA, Ulyanov has conducted archival research on Soviet-era newspapers and historical records related to the Holocaust, and contributed to a project on Russian Imperial and Soviet cinema, with a focus on women’s roles in the film industry.
His current work explores hate prevention, emancipatory political imaginaries, and multispecies relations through the lenses of new materialisms, ecofeminism, and postcolonial critique.
Recent texts:
