Varvara Nikitina The first Russian female stunt performer Country: Russia

Biography of Varvara Nikitina

Varvara Nikitina is a Russian stuntwoman, film actress, and stunt coordinator. She was born in Moscow, Russia, into a family of photographer Vladislav Ivanovich Nikitin (born 1942) and proofreader Lidia Dmitrievna (born 1948). Nikitina is a Master of Sports in artistic gymnastics and holds two higher education degrees. She graduated from the Moscow Mining University (now known as the National University of Science and Technology MISiS) in 1995 and the Plekhanov Academy in 2003.

Nikitina began her career in stunt cinema in 1990, with her first job as a stuntwoman in the film "Zveroboy" directed by Andrei Rostotsky. She specializes in stage movement, acrobatics, pyrotechnics, underwater work, mountaineering training, car work, and working with ropes and special stunt equipment, including pneumatics.

In 2000, Nikitina, along with her husband Alexey Silkyn and stuntman Sergey Nefyodov, established the stunt studio "VARVARA-STUNT." In 2001, she served as the executive director of the International Stunt Festival at the 4th Moscow Film Festival "Brigantina" in Berdyansk.

Since 2006, Nikitina has been a stunt coordinator for the Stunt Association of Russia. In 2013, she became a member of the Union of Cinematographers of Russia and Vice President of the Stunt Guild of Russia under the Union of Cinematographers of Russia.

In her personal life, Nikitina is married to stunt coordinator Alexey Vladimirovich Silkyn (born 1977). They have a daughter, Margarita Alexeevna Silkyna (born 1997), who is an actress and a student at the Faculty of Producing.

Throughout her career, Nikitina has received recognition for her work. In 2001, she won first place as part of the Moscow Stunt Team in the "Best Stunt Reel" category at the International Stunt Festival at the 4th Moscow Film Festival "Brigantina" in Berdyansk. She has also been nominated twice for the "Taurus" Award for Best Stunts in a Foreign Film for her work in the films "Code of Cain" (2016) and "Red Dog" (2017).

In 2022, Varvara Nikitina was nominated for the "Contribution to the Profession" category at the Alter Ego Awards.