Victor Kossakovsky was born in 1960 in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg), Russia. Since 1978, he has worked at the Leningrad Studio of Documentaries in roles like assistant cameraman, assistant director and editor. In 1988 he finished the Higher Courses of Film Writers and Directors in Moscow and he is a Laureate of the “Triumph” Prize, Laureate of the RF State Award and the “Nika” prize. He founded Kossakovsky Film Production, based in San Petersburg, to create a cinema with a strong focus in poetics and reality. He is an innovative documentary filmmaker whose films have been honoured with more than 100 awards in national and international festivals. In 1989 he directed his first feature Losev and in 1992 directed his most well-known documentary, The Belovs, which won both the VPRO Joris Ivens Award and the Audience Award at IDFA among others. In 2011, Kossakovsky’s ¡VIVAN LAS ANTIPODAS! was selected as the opening film of the Venice Film Festival. In many of his films, including Aquarela, for which he received his first APSA nomination, Kossakovsky has served simultaneously as director, editor, cinematographer and writer. He continues to serve as a teacher and mentor to aspiring filmmakers and documentarians globally.
The Asia Pacific Screen Academy expresses its respect for and acknowledgement of the South East Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. We pay our respects to the Traditional Owners of country, including the custodial communities on whose land works are created and celebrated by the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. We acknowledge the continuing connection to land, waters and communities. We also pay our respects to Elders, past and emerging. We recognise the integral role Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and First Nations peoples continue to play in storytelling and celebration spaces.
