Viktor Kossakovsky

Viktor Kossakovsky (Russian: Виктор Косаковский; born 19 July 1961)^[1] is a Russian documentary filmmaker.

Viktor Kossakovsky
Viktor Kossakovsky in 2024
Born	Viktory Kossakovsky (1961-07-19) 19 July 1961 (age 64) Leningrad, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union (present day Saint Petersburg, Russia)
Occupation	Documentarian
Years active	1978 – present

Early life

Kossakovsky was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia, at the time Leningrad, U.S.S.R.^[2] 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.^[2] He became a vegetarian during his childhood.^[3]

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;^[4] and his well-received meditation on the natural wonder of water, Aquarela (2018),^[5] released in the U.S. by Sony Pictures Classics.^[6] In 2011, his documentary ¡Vivan las Antipodas! was selected as the opening film of the Venice Film Festival.^{[citation needed]}.

Awards

In 1993, his first feature, Belovy / The Belovs, won both the VPRO Joris Ivens Award and the Audience Award.^{[citation needed]}

Other awards include the Special Jury Award at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam for Pavel i Lyalya in 1999, the Documentary Award at the Edinburgh International Film Festival for Sreda (Wednesday), the Award of Honor at Karlovy Vary International Film Festival for Sreda, the Dok Leipzig Findling Award for Pavel i Lyala, the True Vision Award at the 2012 True/False Film Festival^[7] and the Genziana d'Oro – Gran Premio Città di Trento at the 60th Trento Film Festival (2012).^{[citation needed]}.

Filmography

• Belovy / Беловы / The Belovs (documentary) (1994)
• Pavel i Lyala / Павел и Ляля (documentary) (1998)
• Wednesday 07.19.61 / Среда 19.07.61 (documentary) (1999)
• Hush! / Тише! / Tishe! (2002)
• I Loved You / Я любил тебя (documentary) (2003)
• Russia from my Window / Россия из моего окна (2003)
• Svyato (documentary short) (2005)
• ¡Vivan las Antipodas! / Long Live the Antipodes! (documentary) (2011)
• DisplAir (documentary short) (2012)
• Demonstration (documentary) (2013)
• Aquarela (documentary) (2018)
• Gunda (documentary) (2020)
• Architecton (documentary) (2024)