Julia Loktev

Julia Loktev studied at New York University Tisch School of the Arts and McGill University. Places of work recorded in the authority are New York City. Work by Julia Loktev is recorded in the collections of Museum of Modern Art. Distinctions recorded are Guggenheim Fellowship.

• Name — Julia Loktev • Born — 1969 12 12 • Birthplace — Leningrad, Soviet Union • Occupation — Director • Years Active — 1998–present Julia Loktev (born December 12, 1969) is a Russian–American film director, screenwriter, and video artist.

Julia Loktev was born in Leningrad, Soviet Union (now St. Petersburg, Russia) in a Jewish family. 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. She received an M.F.A. from the Graduate Film Program at New York University.

In 1998 Loktev directed the documentary Moment of Impact, inspired by her father who was severely injured in an automobile accident. The documentary won the Documentary Directing Award at Sundance Film Festival and the Grand Prize at Cinéma du Réel. Loktev was resident at Eyebeam in 2005. 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. The film was critically acclaimed, winning several film festival competitions and an Independent Spirit Award. Loktev received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2009. In 2011, Loktev adapted the short story Expensive Trips Nowhere into the film The Loneliest Planet. 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. In 2015, Richard Brody called her one of the best woman movie directors. In 2024 Loktev directed the documentary film My Undesirable Friends: Part I — Last Air in Moscow, being critically acclaimend, winning several accolades, including the Gotham Independent Film Award for Best Documentary.

• Year — Title — Notes • 1998 — Moment of Impact — Documentary • 2006 — Day Night Day Night • 2011 — The Loneliest Planet • 2024 — My Undesirable Friends: Part I — Last Air in Moscow — Documentary • 2026 — My Undesirable Friends: Part II – Exile

• Rough House, Brooklyn Museum of Art's "Global Feminisms" show (2007)

• Award / Festival — Year — Category — Work — Result — Reference(s) • AFI Festival — 2011 — Grand Jury Prize — The Loneliest Planet • Cannes Film Festival — 2005 — C.I.C.A.E. Award — Day Night Day Night • SACD Prize • Prix Regard Jeune • Chicago International Film Festival — 1998 — Best Documentary — Moment of Impact • 2006 — Fipresci Prize — Day Night Day Night • Cinéma du Réel — 1998 — Cinéma du Réel Award — Moment of Impact • Festival du nouveau cinéma — 2006 — Feature Film Award — Day Night Day Night • Film Independent Spirit Awards — 1999 — Truer Than Fiction Award — Moment of Impact • 2007 — Best First Feature — Day Night Day Night • Someone to Watch Award • 2013 — Best Director — The Loneliest Planet • 2026 — Best Documentary Feature — My Undesirable Friends: Part I — Last Air in Moscow • Gotham Independent Film Awards — 2006 — Best Breakthrough Director — Day Night Day Night • 2011 — Best Feature — The Loneliest Planet • 2025 — Best Documentary — My Undesirable Friends: Part I — Last Air in Moscow • Hamburg Film Festival — 2006 — Critics Award — Day Night Day Night • Istanbul Film Festival — 2006 — Best Film — The Loneliest Planet • Las Palmas de Gran Canaria International Film Festival — 2011 — Lady Harimaguada de Oro — The Loneliest Planet • Locarno Film Festival — 2006 — Golden Leopard Award — The Loneliest Planet • San Francisco International Film Festival — 1999 — Certificate of Merit — Moment of Impact • Sundance Film Festival — 1999 — Directing Award — Documentary — Moment of Impact