In 1926, after completing her studies at Kiev theater school, Sten was invited by Ukrainian film director Viktor Turin to appear in his film "Provokator", based on the book by Ukrainian writer Oles Dosvitnyi. Sten was discovered by the Russian stage director and instructor Konstantin Stanislavsky, who arranged an audition for her at the Moscow Film Academy. Sten went on to act in other plays and films in Ukraine and Russia, including Boris Barnet's comedy "The Girl with a Hatbox" (1927). She and her husband, Russian film director Fedor Ozep, traveled to Germany to appear in a film co-produced by German and Soviet studios, "The Yellow Ticket" (1928). After the film was completed, Anna Sten and her husband decided not to return to the Soviet Union.