Julia Loktev

Julia Loktev
At the Brooklyn Museum in 2007
Born (1969-12-12) December 12, 1969
Leningrad, Soviet Union
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 by 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 critically acclaimed, winning several film festival competitions and an Independent Spirit Award.[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 several 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 the documentary film My Undesirable Friends: Part I — Last Air in Moscow,[14][15] being critically acclaimend, winning several accolades, including 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. July 23, 2019. Retrieved December 26, 2020.
  4. ^ a b "Guggenheim Fellowships: Supporting Artists, Scholars, & Scientists". www.gf.org. Retrieved December 9, 2025.
  5. ^ Smith, D (October 24, 2012). "Julia Loktev, The Loneliest Planet". Retrieved August 1, 2015.
  6. ^ a b "| Berlinale | - My Undesirable Friends: Part I — Last Air in Moscow". www.berlinale.de. Retrieved December 9, 2025.
  7. ^ "Julia Loktev | eyebeam.org". www.eyebeam.org. Retrieved January 27, 2016.
  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. May 9, 2007. Archived from the original on September 30, 2025. Retrieved December 19, 2025.
  10. ^ Sharkey, Betsy (October 25, 2025). "Review: 'The Loneliest Planet' is a revealing journey". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 19, 2025.
  11. ^ Wolkoff, Carly (October 18, 2012). "Trailer Face-Off! The Loneliest Planet vs. The Impossible". Interview Magazine. Retrieved December 19, 2025.
  12. ^ Jenkins, Mark (October 25, 2012). "Masculinity Crisis In The Caucasus Mountains". NPR. Retrieved December 19, 2025.
  13. ^ Brody, Richard (December 11, 2015). "The Best Movies of 2015". The New Yorker. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
  14. ^ Chang, Justin (August 14, 2025). ""My Undesirable Friends: Part I" Is a Staggering Portrait of Russian Journalists in Dissent". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved December 19, 2025.
  15. ^ Fear, David (August 16, 2025). "'My Undesirable Friends' Isn't Just a Documentary. It's a Warning". Rolling Stone. Retrieved December 19, 2025.
  16. ^ Carey, Matthew (December 9, 2025). "Hottest Documentary Going Into Oscar Shortlist Voting? Arguably, It's Mammoth 'My Undesirable Friends: Part I – Last Air In Moscow'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 19, 2025.
  17. ^ "What Makes Julia Loktev, the Director of a New Movie About a Female Suicide Bomber, Tick". New York Magazine. May 4, 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.
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