Julia Loktev (born December 12, 1969) is a Russian-American film director and video artist. Early life Julia Loktev was born in Leningrad, Soviet Union (now St. Petersburg, Russia). 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. 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 life 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 Moment of Impact (1998) Day Night Day Night (2006) The Loneliest Planet (2011) Art installation Rough House, Brooklyn Museum of Art's "Global Feminisms" show. References External links 1969 births Living people Soviet emigrants to the United States Tisch School of the Arts alumni American documentary filmmakers American film directors American people of Russian descent American women documentary filmmakers