Michael Lockshin (
Russian: Михаил Арнольдович Локшин; born 1981) is a film director and writer.
Early life and education
Lockshin was born in 1981 in the United States and grew up in both the United States and Russia.[1] Lockshin graduated with a MA degree in psychology from
Moscow State University.[2] After graduation, Lockshin moved to London, where he began directing commercials.[2]
He is the son of a Russian-American scientist
Arnold Lockshin.[3][4] In 1986, his family moved to the USSR.[5] On his father's side, he descended from Jews who fled Ukraine out of fear of antisemitism.[6]
While still studying in college, Lockshin started directing commercials and music videos. He shot commercials for over 10 years, and his spots won numerous awards, including Cannes Lions Young Director's Awards,[8] Golden Drum, and others.[9] The
David Duchovny ad (2014) went viral internationally.[10][11]
Lockshin's debut feature film, Silver Skates, shot in 2019, was released theatrically Christmas 2020 in Russia to high acclaim. The movie became the first Russian-language Netflix Originals movie.[12] It premiered as the Opening Film of the
Moscow International Film Festival. At the 20th
Golden Eagle Awards (2021), Silver Skates was nominated for 12 awards, a record in the history of the Golden Eagle Awards, and won 6 awards, including "Best Picture".[13] Lockshin himself was nominated for Best Director.[14][15] The film also won "Best Picture" from the Association of Producers awards (APKIT), and won several awards at the
Nika Awards in 2021, with Lockshin up in the category "Discovery of the Year".[16]
The movie received overwhelmingly positive reviews from critics,[22][23] but was targeted by nationalist activists, propagandists, and government officials, including
Zakhar Prilepin,
Tigran Keosayan, and
Vladimir Solovyev, who complained about the director's views on the
war in Ukraine, the film's anti-regime stance, and the fact that the
Ministry of Culture had provided funding for a critical film. They demanded a criminal investigation into the film and into Lockshin himself.[24][25]
^"Номинанты премии «Золотой Орел» за 2021 год" ["Nominees of the Golden Eagle Awards 2021"]. NATIONAL ACADEMY OF MOTION PICTURE ARTS AND SCIENCES OF RUSSIA (in Russian). Retrieved 26 May 2022.
^"Лауреаты премии «Золотой Орел» за 2021 год" ["Winners of the Golden Eagle Awards 2021"]. NATIONAL ACADEMY OF MOTION PICTURE ARTS AND SCIENCES OF RUSSIA (in Russian). Retrieved 26 May 2022.