Bulgakowa completed in 1977 a five-year study of film theory and history at Allunionsinstitut of Cinematography (Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography) in Moscow, and then followed her husband Dietmar Hochmuth in the Deutsche Demokratische Republik where a Szenaristenlehrgang at the graduated Academy of Film and Television in Potsdam-Babelsberg.
1982 doctorate at the Humboldt University of Berlin to Doctor philosophy the technical theory of Performing Arts. As a Researcher, she worked for institutions such as the Institute of Performing Arts, the Research Group on film the Academy of Arts of the German Democratic Republic (1984–1990). After the wall came down, she was at the Friends of the German Cinematheque and the International Forum of New Cinema (1990–1993), the development agency scientific new projects (1994– 1996) and at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum on Lotman – Institute for Russian and Soviet Culture (2002–2005) worked.
Oksana Bulgakowa taught at the Humboldt University, the Drama School Leipzig and Freie Universität Berlin.
As a visiting professor she taught at the universities Stanford University (1998–2004) and University of California Berkeley (2004), before being appointed in 2004 as professor at the International Film School Cologne.
