维塔利·曼斯基，Vitaly Mansky was born in 1963 in Lviv, Ukraine. After obtaining his higher education in Moscow in 1989, he became one of the most prominent contemporary documentary filmmakers. His films have been screened at film festivals worldwide and he has received over 100 international awards. In 2007, he founded the International Festival of Creative Documentary Films Artdocfest in Russia. In 2014, he emigrated to Latvia. He is still being persecuted by Russian authorities for expressing his stance on civil rights. Mansky is the president of the IDFF Artdocfest/Riga and a member of the American Film Academy (Oscars).