Margarita Zhitnikova

Margarita (they/them) is an award-winning actor, writer & producer. As a child, Margarita & their family immigrated to Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, as Jewish refugees from Russia. Dedicated to smashing the patriarchy, Margarita Co-Founded Besties Make Movies. 




Margarita has received several Best Actress nominations for their work in the award-winning short film JONES. Their film 2 WEEKS about asexuality premiered at the Oxford Film Festival, screened at NFMLA and won Best LGBT Short at Indie Short Fest and IndieX Film Fest. Their short film APPETITE is premiering at the Oxford Film Festival this year. The feature film Triple Threat in which they play one of the lead roles is having its World Premiere at the Oscar-qualifying Cinequest Film Festival in 2021! Most recently they have been cast as Christina in the new TikTok drama @DarkSprings.




Their short film script ZASHA (available on Kindle) which they co-wrote, has been doing festivals and recently won Best Horror Short at the Oregon Short Film Festival.




Margarita is a member of The Filmshop, NYWIFT, Dreamers // Doers, The COBWEB, NYC Women Filmmakers, Glass Elevator & Women in Media. They are also honored to be a judge for the Revolution Me Film Festival and so excited about all of the wonderful films they get to watch from up-and-coming artists.




Follow them on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok and Clubhouse (@marzapproved) to stay in the loop or visit zhitnikova.com