Julia Loktev


Julia Loktev is a Russian-American film director and video artist. She was born in Leningrad, Soviet Union.

Early life

Julia immigrated to the United States with her family at the age of 9.
Loktev attended McGill University in Montreal and received an MFA in film from New York University.

Career

Loktev came across Tom Bishell's book of short stories God Lives in St. Petersburg and read it because she had been born in St. Petersburg. She decided to adapt the short story Expensive Trips Nowhere into the film The Loneliest Planet transporting the setting from Kazakhstan to Georgia.
Loktev was resident at Eyebeam in 2005.
In 2015, Richard Brody called her one of the best woman movie directors.

Personal

Loktev is Jewish.
In 1989, when she was 19, her father was severely injured in an automobile accident. The event was the subject of her 1998 documentary Moment of Impact.

Films