Vadim Kostrov

Born on August 17, 1998, in Nizhny Tagil, located in the Ural region of Russia, Vadim Kostrov’s journey in the realm of filmmaking commenced. His relocation to Moscow in 2016 marked a fateful turn. In 2017, he enrolled in the esteemed VGIK (Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography), specializing in Dramaturgy. Notably, it was during this period that Kostrov embarked on the creation of his inaugural short documentary film, The Silent Night, exclusively filmed on an iPhone.

In 2018, Kostrov chose to depart from VGIK, embarking on a new phase of his creative odyssey. This era bore witness to the emergence of his first feature-length documentary, Loft-Underground. The film delved into Moscow’s underground art scene, casting a discerning gaze on the art squats that flourished during the 1980s and 1990s and still shape the city’s cultural landscape.

2019 ushered in a period of prolific productivity as he began his Ural series. Within it, a trilogy of documentaries unfolded: Narodnaya, After Narodnaya, and Comet. This creative phase also saw the making of his autobiographical films: Orpheus, Summer, and Winter.

In 2021, at only 23 and with no prior international exposure or public funding, Kostrov’s work reached global audiences. His film Summer premiered at Sheffield DocFest, followed by Orpheus at FIDMarseille, and then Winter and the full Narodnaya trilogy at Doclisboa.

Following the outbreak of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Kostrov immediately left the country. He and his partner first found refuge in Istanbul. Shortly thereafter, in March 2022, they traveled to Mexico City, where the FICUNAM film festival presented a FOCO (Focus) on his work titled Próxima Estación: Vadim Kostrov, highlighting his emerging body of films. After the festival, they returned to Istanbul, where they lived for two months while awaiting their French visa.

In July 2022, Kostrov’s film Fall premiered at FIDMarseille. That October, he presented I Saw in international competition at Doclisboa. In 2023, his short film Still Free was shown at Berlin Critics’ Week, then screened at numerous festivals including the Jeonju International Film Festival, FICValdivia, and DocBuenosAires.

In summer 2023, New York’s Spectacle Theater launched Kostrov’s Seasons, a year-long retrospective organized by season.

In June 2024, his new feature Normandie, shot in France in September 2022, premiered at FIDMarseille. In October 2024, the University of Chicago’s Doc Films held a retrospective titled Manifested Time: Vadim Kostrov, alongside a lecture by the director in the Department of Media Studies. In May 2025, Kostrov presented Summer in person at the University of Cambridge.

He is currently developing an immersive multimedia installation, Project U, and working on new essay films: Vers la lumière and Time of Summer, among other projects.