Ignatiy Igorevich Vishnevetsky (; russian: Игнатий Игоревич Вишневецкий; born September 5, 1986)Vishnevetsky, Ignati
''Time Indefinite'': "A Talk with Sergei Loznitsa"
''

Mubi Mubi (; stylized as MUBI; The Auteurs before 2010) is a global curated film streaming platform, production company and film distributor. Mubi produces and theatrically distributes films by emerging and established filmmakers, which are exclusivel ...

'' is a

Russian-American Russian Americans ( rus, русские американцы, r=russkiye amerikantsy, p= ˈruskʲɪje ɐmʲɪrʲɪˈkant͡sɨ) are Americans of full or partial Russians, Russian ancestry. The term can apply to recent Russian diaspora, Russian imm ...

film critic, essayist, and columnist. He has worked as a staff film critic for ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

'' and written for Mubi.com and the ''

Chicago Reader The ''Chicago Reader'', or ''Reader'' (stylized as ЯEADER), is an American alternative weekly newspaper in Chicago, Illinois, noted for its literary style of journalism and coverage of the arts, particularly film and theater. It was founded by a ...

''.Zeitchek, Steve
"Who is Ignatiy Vishnevetsky?"
''The L.A. Times''Kohn, Eric
FUTURES: ''At the Movies'' co-host Ignatiy Vishnevetsky
''

Indiewire IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Hollyw ...

'' Vishnevetsky co-hosted '' Roger Ebert Presents: At the Movies'', a nationally syndicated

film criticism Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films and the film medium. In general, film criticism can be divided into two categories: Journalism, journalistic criticism that appears regularly in newspapers, magazines and other popular mass-m ...

television show,

Ebert, Roger Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

br>"Roger Ebert's Journal: ''Ebert Presents at the Movies''"
, ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...

'' with Christy Lemire.Braun, Li
"Ebert chooses 2nd host for 'Movies'"
''The Toronto Sun''

Early life and education

Vishnevetsky was born in Moscow, the son of Russian poet Igor Vishnevetsky.Christopher, Ro
"And the Co-Host of ''Roger Ebert Presents'' Is..."
''The Chicagoist'' He has said that his paternal ancestors were

Don Cossacks Don Cossacks (russian: Донские казаки, Donskie kazaki) or Donians (russian: донцы, dontsy) are Cossacks who settled along the middle and lower Don. Historically, they lived within the former Don Cossack Host (russian: До� ...

, and he is of Polish and Jewish descent through his maternal ancestry. He moved to the United States at the age of eight, following his parents' divorce.Metz, Nina
"Roger Ebert is back on TV, with a new man on deck"
''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'' Although he did not formally study English in school while living in Russia, Vishnevetsky claims that he learned the language "entirely from TV and American TV commercials I watched constantly". He lived with his father, stepmother, and stepbrother in

Decatur, Georgia Decatur is a city in, and the county seat of, DeKalb County, Georgia, which is part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. With a population of 24,928 in the 2020 census, the municipality is sometimes assumed to be larger since multiple ZIP Codes in ...

, and, four years later, relocated to

Wauwatosa, Wisconsin Wauwatosa (; known informally as Tosa; originally Wau-wau-too-sa or Hart's Mill) is a city in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 48,387 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Wauwatos ...

, where he graduated from

Wauwatosa East High School Wauwatosa East High School is a comprehensive four-year public high school in the city of Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. It is part of the Wauwatosa School District. The school was originally known as Wauwatosa Senior High School until the opening of Wauw ...

Dudek, Duan
"''At The Movies'' hosts a Wauwatosa East alum"
''

Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel The ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where it is the primary newspaper. It is also the largest newspaper in the state of Wisconsin, where it is widely distributed. It is currently o ...

'' and then moved to Chicago, where he briefly attended

Columbia College Chicago Columbia College Chicago is a Private college, private art college in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1890, it has 5,928https://about.colum.edu/effectiveness/pdf/spring-2021-student-profile.pdf students pursuing degrees in more than 60 undergra ...

, studying film directing.

Career

Before working as a film critic, Vishnevetsky worked as a translator, movie theater usher, and laundromat attendant. Beginning in 2004, he became involved with Chicago's cinephile community, many of whose members he met through the now-defunct video rental store Odd Obsession.Cuddy, Allison
"Young Chicago critic tapped to host ''Roger Ebert Presents at the Movies''"
,

WBEZ WBEZ (91.5 FM) – branded ''WBEZ 91.5'' – is a non-commercial educational radio station licensed to serve Chicago, Illinois, and primarily serving the Chicago metropolitan area. Financed by corporate underwriting, government funding and lis ...

He was involved in a screening space called North Western Avenue, whose participants later co-founded the film website Cine-File.info, to which Vishnevetsky contributed."Episode 128: Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, Pt. 1." Podcast
''Film in Focus''
December 7, 2011. In 2006, Vishnevetsky wrote and directed a 45-minute short film;Cangialosi, Jason

Yahoo! Yahoo! (, styled yahoo''!'' in its logo) is an American web services provider. It is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California and operated by the namesake company Yahoo Inc., which is 90% owned by investment funds managed by Apollo Global Man ...

Movies. he also served as the film's film editor and

cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the photographing or recording of a film, television production, music video or other live action piece. The cinematographer is the ch ...

. Soon after a final cut was completed, a

hard drive failure A hard disk drive failure occurs when a hard disk drive malfunctions and the stored information cannot be accessed with a properly configured computer. A hard disk failure may occur in the course of normal operation, or due to an external factor ...

destroyed much of the footage. In an interview with the

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...

''Film in Focus'', Vishnevetsky stated that the experience led him to pursue

full-time. Vishnevetsky published a film

zine A zine ( ; short for '' magazine'' or '' fanzine'') is a small-circulation self-published Self-publishing is the publication of media by its author at their own cost, without the involvement of a publisher. The term usually refers to writ ...

called ''Zero for Conduct'' before joining the

NYU New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

-based film journal ''Tisch Film Review'' and then

MUBI Mubi (; stylized as MUBI; The Auteurs before 2010) is a global curated film streaming platform, production company and film distributor. Mubi produces and theatrically distributes films by emerging and established filmmakers, which are exclusivel ...

. In the fall of 2010, he was approached by

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

and his wife,

Chaz Ebert Chaz Ebert (born Charlie Hammel; October 15, 1952) is an American attorney and businesswoman. Early life and education Ebert was born in Chicago to Johnnie Hobbs Hammel and Wiley Hammel Sr. She attended Crane Technical High School in Chicago. S ...

, about auditioning for their new television show, '' Ebert Presents: At the Movies''. After several months of auditions, Vishnevetsky was announced as the show's co-host alongside Christy Lemire. Vishnevetsky replaced critic

Elvis Mitchell Elvis Mitchell (born December 6, 1958) is an American film critic, host of the public radio show ''The Treatment'', and visiting lecturer at Harvard University. He has served as a film critic for the ''Fort Worth Star-Telegram'', the ''LA Weekly ...

, who had appeared in the show's pilot but left the production for undisclosed reasons. Vishnevetsky's directed a short film, ''Ellie Lumme'', which premiered in 2014.Metz, Nina
Underground films see the light through fest.
''

The Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

''.

Critical style

He has described himself as "more of an optimist for the future of cinema than for the future of movies", stating that in his view the two were not synonymous. Comparing Vishnevetsky with his co-host, Christy Lemire, ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' writer Steven James Snyder wrote that Lemire was "more preoccupied with finesse and plot points", while Vishnevetsky was "more interested in structure, experimentation and mood".Snyder, Steven James
"Roger Ebert's New TV Show: Two New Thumbs, One Overdue Comeback"
''

''.

Preferences

In the February 11, 2011 episode of ''Ebert presents At the Movies'', Vishnevetsky stated that the greatest influence on his work as a critic was

Jean-Luc Godard Jean-Luc Godard ( , ; ; 3 December 193013 September 2022) was a French-Swiss film director, screenwriter, and film critic. He rose to prominence as a pioneer of the French New Wave film movement of the 1960s, alongside such filmmakers as Fran� ...

's video project ''

Histoire(s) du cinéma ''Histoire(s) du cinéma'' () is an 8-part video project begun by Jean-Luc Godard in the late 1980s and completed in 1998. The longest, at 266 minutes, and one of the most complex of Godard's films, ''Histoire(s) du cinéma'' is an examination o ...

''. In the same episode, he named the silent films ''

True Heart Susie ''True Heart Susie'' is a 1919 American drama film directed by D. W. Griffith and starring Lillian Gish. A print of the film survives in the film archive of the British Film Institute. The film has seen several VHS releases as well as a DVD issu ...

'' and ''

Foolish Wives ''Foolish Wives'' is a 1922 American erotic silent drama film produced and distributed by Universal Pictures under their Super-Jewel banner and written and directed by Erich von Stroheim. The drama features von Stroheim, Rudolph Christians, ...

''; the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

documentary ''

Shoah The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ar ...

''; and

Jacques Tati Jacques Tati (; born Jacques Tatischeff, ; 9 October 1907 – 5 November 1982) was a French mime, film-maker, actor and screenwriter. In an ''Entertainment Weekly'' poll of the Greatest Movie Directors, he was voted the 46th greatest of all time ...

's '' Playtime'' as the movies that made him want to become a film critic. In a blog post presented as an "appendix" to the episode, he revealed that he writes the majority of his

by hand and will sometimes "edit together" essays out of notes and parts of unpublished texts.Vishnevetsky, Ignatiy
"Appendix to Episode #104"
''Sounds, Images''. Vishnevetsky participated in the 2012 ''Sight & Sound'' critics' poll, where he listed ten of his favorite films as follows: ''

Blow Out ''Blow Out'' is a 1981 American neo-noir mystery thriller film written and directed by Brian De Palma. The film stars John Travolta as Jack Terry, a movie sound effects technician from Philadelphia who, while recording sounds for a low-budget ...

'', ''

Days of Being Wild ''Days of Being Wild'' is a 1990 Hong Kong drama film written and directed by Wong Kar-wai. Starring some of the best-known actors and actresses in Hong Kong, including Leslie Cheung, Andy Lau, Maggie Cheung, Carina Lau, Jacky Cheung and Tony Le ...

'', '' Dead or Alive 2: Birds'', '' Hotel America'', ''

The Lady from Shanghai ''The Lady from Shanghai'' is a 1947 American film noir directed by Orson Welles (uncredited) and starring Welles, his estranged wife Rita Hayworth, and Everett Sloane. It is based on the novel ''If I Die Before I Wake'' by Sherwood King. Altho ...

'', '' Modern Romance'', '' Mysteries of Lisbon'', '' Red Viburnum'', ''

RoboCop ''RoboCop'' is a 1987 American science fiction action film directed by Paul Verhoeven and written by Edward Neumeier and Michael Miner. The film stars Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Daniel O'Herlihy, Ronny Cox, Kurtwood Smith, and Miguel Ferre ...

'', and ''

Some Came Running ''Some Came Running'' is a novel by James Jones, published in 1958. It was Jones's second published novel, following his award-winning debut '' From Here to Eternity''. It is the story of a war veteran with literary aspirations who returns in ...

''. Vishnevetsky compiled his list by writing 90 of his favorite titles on scraps of paper and then drawing ten from a bowl.

Personal life

Vishnevetsky has retained his Russian citizenship,Stingl, Jim
"From Stingl's kitchen to Ebert's orbit"
''

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel The ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where it is the primary newspaper. It is also the largest newspaper in the state of Wisconsin, where it is widely distributed. It is currently o ...

'' and obtained American citizenship in 2017. He lived in Chicago with his wife, Theresa Roberts, a sculptor and installation artist. They married on January 10, 2011, and have two children together.

References

External links

*
IMDBEbert Presents At the Movies biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vishnevetsky, Ignatiy 1986 births Living people 21st-century American essayists 21st-century American male writers 21st-century Russian writers American bloggers American film critics American male bloggers American people of Polish descent American people of Jewish descent American Cossacks Naturalized citizens of the United States People from Wauwatosa, Wisconsin Russian emigrants to the United States Russian film critics Russian male essayists Russian people of Polish descent Russian people of Jewish descent Don Cossacks Russian television presenters Television personalities from Chicago The Onion people Writers from Chicago Writers from Moscow Writers from Wisconsin