Viktor Kossakovsky (russian: Виктор Косаковский; born 19 July 1961) is a Russian documentary filmmaker.

Early life

Kossakovsky was born in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

, at the time

Leningrad Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

U.S.S.R. The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

He began his film career in 1978, working as an assistant cameraman, assistant director, and editor at the Leningrad Studio of Documentaries. From 1986 to 1988, he studied screenwriting and directing at Moscow HCSF. He became a vegetarian during his childhood.

Career

Kossakovsky's first released feature was his 1992 documentary ''Belovy'' / ''The Belovs''. Subsequent works include his 2002 documentary ''Hush!'' / ''Tishe!'' and his 2003 documentary ''Russia from My Window'' (2003), both made from footage that Kossakovsky filmed out his bedroom window or on his street in St. Petersburg; and his well-received mediation on the natural wonder of water, ''Aquarela'' (2018), released in the U.S. by Sony Pictures Classics. In 2011, his documentary ''¡Vivan las Antipodas!'' was selected as the opening film of the Venice Film Festival..

Awards

In 1993, his first feature, ''Belovy'' / ''The Belovs'', won both the VPRO Joris Ivens Award and the Audience Award. Other awards include the Special Jury Award at the

International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) is the world's largest documentary film festival held annually since 1988 in Amsterdam. Over a period of twelve days, it has screened more than 300 films and sold more than 250,000 tic ...

for ''Pavel i Lyalya'' in 1999, the Documentary Award at the Edinburgh International Film Festival for

Sreda The Moscow Literary Sreda (russian: Моско́вская Литерату́рная Cреда, Moskovskaya Literaturnaya Sreda/Moskovskaja Literaturnaja Sreda) was a Moscow literary group founded in 1899 by Nikolai Teleshov. The name Sreda me ...

(Wednesday), the Award of Honor at

Karlovy Vary International Film Festival The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival ( cs, Mezinárodní filmový festival Karlovy Vary) is a film festival held annually in July in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic. The Karlovy Vary Festival is one of the oldest in the world and has become ...

for Sreda, the

Dok Leipzig DOK Leipzig is a documentary film festival that takes place every year in Leipzig, Germany. It is an international film festival for documentary and animated film founded in 1955 under the name "1st All-German Leipzig Festival of Cultural and Doc ...

Findling Award for ''Pavel i Lyala'', the True Vision Award at the 2012

True/False Film Festival True/False Film Fest is an annual documentary film festival that takes place in Columbia, Missouri. The Fest occurs on the first weekend in March (sometimes beginning in late February), with films being shown from Thursday evening to Sunday nig ...

and the Genziana d'Oro – Gran Premio Città di Trento at the 60th Trento Film Festival (2012)..

Filmography

*''

Gunda ''Gunda'' is a genus of moths of the family Bombycidae (silk moths). The genus was erected by Francis Walker in 1862. It is primarily an Oriental genus, found in India, China and South-east Asia. Species *''Gunda aroa'' Bethune-Baker, 1904 *''G ...

'' (documentary) (2020) *''Aquarela'' (documentary) (2018) *''Demonstration (documentary)'' (2013) *''DisplAir'' (documentary short) (2012) *''¡Vivan las Antipodas!'' / ''Long Live the Antipodes!'' (documentary) (2011) *''Svyato'' (documentary short) (2005) *''Russia from my Window'' / ''Россия из моего окна'' (2003) *''I Loved You'' / ''Я любил тебя'' (documentary) (2003) *''Hush!'' / ''Тише!'' / ''Tishe!'' (2002) *''Wednesday 07.19.61'' / ''Среда 19.07.61'' (documentary short) (1999) *''Pavel i Lyala'' / ''Павел и Ляля'' (documentary) (1998) *''Belovy'' / ''Беловы'' / ''The Belovs'' (documentary) (1994)

References

External links

*
Master Class for Beginners at IDFA

Victor Kossakovsky Advice for Beginners
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kossakovsky, Victor Aleksandrovich 1961 births Living people Russian film directors High Courses for Scriptwriters and Film Directors alumni Mass media people from Saint Petersburg