Gabe Polsky

Gabe Polsky

Gabe Polsky speaking at the premiere of Red Army at the 2014 AFI Film Festival

Gabe Polsky (born May 3, 1979) is an American film director, writer, and producer.

Early life

Polsky was born to Soviet immigrants and raised in the Chicago area. He went to the Hotchkiss School for his high school education.[1] After graduating, he went on to Yale University and played hockey there.[2]

Career

Polsky wrote, directed and produced Red Army, a documentary film about the Soviet Union and its famed ice hockey team.[3] Red Army premiered at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival[4] and was released in theaters by Sony Pictures Classics on Jan. 22, 2015.[5]

A. O. Scott of The New York Times called Red Army a "stirring, crazy story—a Russian novel of Tolstoyan sweep and Gogl-esque absurdity.”[6] Time Magazine said: "this playful, poignant film presents a human story that transcends decades, borders and ideologies.”[7] Scott Feinberg of The Hollywood Reporter called the film "one of the best documentaries that I have ever seen.”[8]

Red Army was the only documentary included in the official selections at the 2014 Cannes,[9] Telluride,[10] Toronto,[11] New York,[12] and AFI,[13] film festivals. Red Army won Audience Awards at the 2014 AFI,[14] Chicago[15] and Middleburg[16] film festivals.[17] The film was selected as the Opening Ceremony film of the 2014 Moscow International Film Festival.[18]

Polsky co-directed and produced The Motel Life (2013), starring Emile Hirsch, Dakota Fanning, and Stephen Dorff.[19] The film was described by Indiewire as “a perfectly formed Indie with a heart of gold."[20] Released in November 2013,[21] The Motel Life has been called “outstanding and enthralling” by The Washington Post,[22] and “admirable and memorable” by The Wall Street Journal.[23]

Additional producing credits include: Werner Herzog's Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans,[24] which was named in over 40 top-ten lists of the Best Films in 2009; His Way, an Emmy-nominated documentary released by HBO in 2011;[25] and Little Birds,[26] which was named among the top ten independent films of 2012 by the National Board of Review. Polsky is adapting the novels Butcher's Crossing by John Edward Williams[27] and National Book Award-winning Going After Cacciato by Tim O'Brien.[28] Other projects in development include novels Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes, to be produced at Sony as a starring vehicle for Will Smith;[29] and The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov.[30] Polsky has also secured the life rights to Albert Einstein[31] as well as to surfing legend Dorian "Doc" Paskowitz and his family.[32]

References

External links

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