About Mira

Mira Niagolova is an award-winning internationally recognized documentary filmmaker committed to telling socially conscious stories portrayed with sensitivity and compassion. 

Mira is a Fulbright  Scholar Alumni.  In recognition for her valuable experience as a documentary filmmaker and educator, in 2019  the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) and the  Institute of International Education's Council for International Exchange of Scholars (CIES) added Mira to its roster of Fulbright Specialists. 

Mira made her debut as an independent filmmaker in 1999 with the award-winning documentary Trafficking Cinderella about forced prostitution and the trafficking of women. The film has been screened around the world and used as an educational tool by numerous international cultural and anti-trafficking organizations. Her next film, A Parallel World, about life in a refugee camp also won many awards and was distributed worldwide.

Mira's latest award winning  documentary, Welcome to Vermont: four stories of resettled identity, is a continuation of her interest on issues of forced displacement and identity.

Mira has extended experience in both the TV/Film industry and nonprofit sector. She worked as a producer and anchor with the Film Department, Bulgarian National Television. She also wrote about film in print media and published a critically acclaimed book Play: Faces form the Big Screen, Cyril and Methodius Publishing House, 1992, ISBN 9789544210083.

In the early 90's she moved to Montreal, Canada, and worked for seven years with the International Program of The National Film Board of Canada. In 2000 she moved to Vermont and for six years took the position of the Executive Director of the Vermont International Film Festival. She also served as the Artistic Director of White River Indie Films.

Presently, Mira teaches filmmaking at Champlain College in Burlington, Vermont, and gives lectures and workshops on various aspects of documentaries for social change at local, national and international educational and cultural institutions.

 Along with the Fulbright Awards, Mira has received fellowships and recognition awards from Sundance Documentary Fund, Open Society Institute, National Film Board of Canada, New England Foundation for the Arts, Canada Arts Council, Vermont Council for the Arts/National Endowment for the Arts, Canadian International Developing Agency, Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunication Commission, Vermont Community Foundation Arts Endowment, Puffin Foundation, CTV, Vermont Humanities Council, and others.

Mira lives with her family in Essex, Vermont.

For booking and other inquiries, please e-mail Mira at mira@miraniagolova.com