Born in Tiksi on the coast of the Laptev Sea in the Russian Arctic in 1985, the filmmaker and photographer now lives in the UK but remains connected to her homeland and covers stories on climate change and Indigenous communities. She is a National Geographic Explorer and a recipient of the ICP Infinity Award and the Leica Oskar Barnack Award. Her short film Haulout, which she directed with her brother Maxim Arbugaev, premiered in the 2022 Berlinale Shorts and was nominated for an Oscar. Chuuraa is her second film.