Lyudmila Shamanova was born in the town of Buguruslan in Orenburg Region, Russia. She graduated from the Orenburg State University with a degree in journalism. After that, Lyudmila obtained a degree in drama at the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography in Moscow. Her career in journalism started at a regional TV channel in Orenburg, where she worked as a news reporter, editor, and presenter. Lyudmila joined RT Documentary in 2009. Lyudmila has worked on dozens of projects, including films awarded at international film festivals: «»Project Duterte«» (1st place at the Telly Awards 2017), «»Lady Cops of Afghanistan«» (Human Rights Press Award) and «»Dying Alone«» (gold medal at New York Festivals 2020).«Together with my colleagues, we implement creative ideas that sometimes seem crazy or impossible to implement, and this is what I like most about documentary filmmaking. I really enjoy the process of looking for compelling stories and interesting protagonists».