Julia Loktev

Julia Loktev
Born (1969-12-12) December 12, 1969
OccupationDirector
Years active1998–present

Julia Loktev (born December 12, 1969) is a Russian–American film director, screenwriter, and video artist.

Early life

Julia Loktev was born in Leningrad, Soviet Union (now St. Petersburg, Russia) in a Jewish family.[1][2]. She immigrated to the United States as a child and lived in Colorado until leaving for college. She moved to Montreal to study English and film at McGill University.[3] She received an M.F.A. from the Graduate Film Program at New York University.[4]

Career

In 1998 Loktev directed the documentary Moment of Impact , inspired her father who was severely injured in an automobile accident.[5] The documentary won the documentary Directing Award at Sundance Film Festival and the Grand Prize at Cinéma du Réel.[6]

Loktev was resident at Eyebeam in 2005.[7] In 2006 she directed Day Night Day Night which premiered in the Directors' Fortnight section of the 59th Cannes Film Festival, being recognized with the Prix Regard Jeune.[8] The film was critical acclaimed, winning several film festival competitions and an Independent Spirit Awards.[9]

Loktev received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2009.[4]

In 2011 Loktev adapted the short story Expensive Trips Nowhere into the film The Loneliest Planet.[10][11] The film competed in severals international film festivals, winning the Grand Jury Prize at the AFI Fest in Los Angeles and being nominated at the Film Independent Spirit Awards.[6][12] In 2015, Richard Brody called her one of the best woman movie directors.[13]

In 2024 Loktev directed documentary film My Undesirable Friends: Part I — Last Air in Moscow,[14][15] being critical acclaimend, winning severals accolades, inclufing the Gotham Independent Film Award for Best Documentary.[16]

Filmography

Art installation

Awards and nominations

Award / Festival Year Category Work Result Ref.
AFI Festival 2011 Grand Jury Prize The Loneliest Planet Won
Cannes Film Festival 2005 C.I.C.A.E. Award Day Night Day Night Nominated
SACD Prize Nominated
Prix Regard Jeune Won
Chicago International Film Festival 1998 Best Documentary Moment of Impact Nominated
2006 Fipresci Prize Day Night Day Night Won
Cinéma du Réel 1998 Cinéma du Réel Award Moment of Impact Won
Festival du nouveau cinéma 2006 Feature Film Award Day Night Day Night Won
Film Independent Spirit Awards 1999 Truer Than Fiction Award Moment of Impact Nominated
2012 Best First Feature Day Night Day Night Nominated
Someone to Watch Award Won
2012 Best Director The Loneliest Planet Nominated
2026 Best Documentary Feature My Undesirable Friends: Part I — Last Air in Moscow Pending
Gotham Independent Film Awards 2006 Best Breakthrough Director My Undesirable Friends: Part I — Last Air in Moscow Nominated
2011 Best Feature The Loneliest Planet Nominated
2025 Best Documentary My Undesirable Friends: Part I — Last Air in Moscow Won [18]
Hamburg Film Festival 2006 Critics Award Day Night Day Night Nominated
Istanbul Film Festival 2006 Best Film The Loneliest Planet Won
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria International Film Festival 2011 Lady Harimaguada de Oro The Loneliest Planet Won
Locarno Film Festival 2006 Golden Leopard Award The Loneliest Planet Nominated
San Francisco International Film Festival 1999 Certificate of Merit Moment of Impact Won
Sundance Film Festival 1999 Directing Award — Documentary Moment of Impact Won

References

  1. ^ "Fellows: Julia Loktev". John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. Archived from the original on August 8, 2014. Retrieved August 6, 2014.
  2. ^ "PUBLIC LIVES; From a Daughter, Scenes of a Life in Limbo". The New York Times. January 30, 1998.
  3. ^ "Moments of Impact: A Conversation with Julia Loktev". MUBI. 23 July 2019. Retrieved 2020-12-26.
  4. ^ a b "Guggenheim Fellowships: Supporting Artists, Scholars, & Scientists". www.gf.org. Retrieved 2025-12-09.
  5. ^ Smith, D (24 October 2012). "Julia Loktev, The Loneliest Planet". Retrieved 1 August 2015.
  6. ^ a b "| Berlinale | - My Undesirable Friends: Part I — Last Air in Moscow". www.berlinale.de. Retrieved 2025-12-09.
  7. ^ "Julia Loktev | eyebeam.org". www.eyebeam.org. Retrieved 2016-01-27.
  8. ^ Chang, Justin (May 28, 2006). "Day Night Day Night". Variety. Retrieved August 25, 2019.
  9. ^ "Learning to Empathize With a Suicide Bomber (Published 2007)". The New York Times. 9 May 2007. Archived from the original on 30 September 2025. Retrieved 19 December 2025.
  10. ^ Sharkey, Betsy (25 October 2025). "Review: 'The Loneliest Planet' is a revealing journey". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 19 December 2025.
  11. ^ Wolkoff, Carly (18 October 2012). "Trailer Face-Off! The Loneliest Planet vs. The Impossible". Interview Magazine. Retrieved 19 December 2025.
  12. ^ Jenkins, Mark (25 October 2012). "Masculinity Crisis In The Caucasus Mountains". NPR. Retrieved 19 December 2025.
  13. ^ Brody, Richard (11 December 2015). "The Best Movies of 2015". The New Yorker. Retrieved 12 December 2015.
  14. ^ Chang, Justin (14 August 2025). ""My Undesirable Friends: Part I" Is a Staggering Portrait of Russian Journalists in Dissent". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved 19 December 2025.
  15. ^ Fear, David (16 August 2025). "'My Undesirable Friends' Isn't Just a Documentary. It's a Warning". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 19 December 2025.
  16. ^ Carey, Matthew (9 December 2025). "Hottest Documentary Going Into Oscar Shortlist Voting? Arguably, It's Mammoth 'My Undesirable Friends: Part I – Last Air In Moscow'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 19 December 2025.
  17. ^ "What Makes Julia Loktev, the Director of a New Movie About a Female Suicide Bomber, Tick". New York Magazine. 4 May 2007. Retrieved May 13, 2007.
  18. ^ Goldsmith, Jill (October 28, 2025). "Gotham Awards Film Nominations: 'One Battle After Another' Leads Pack; Multiple Noms For 'If I Had Legs I'd Kick You', 'It Was Just An Accident', 'No Other Choice'". Deadline. Retrieved October 28, 2025.