Eugene Izraylit

Eugene Izraylit was born on October 31st, 1981 in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), Russia. In his formative years he spent most of his free time reading and playing chess, becoming a youth champion of St. Petersburg at the mere age of 11. In 1993 Eugene and his family moved to New York. In 1999, at the age of 17 he went to the University of Albany, where he studies politics, theater and film history. Eugene's interest in theater let to him performing in over a dozen plays in three years. In 2001/02 Eugene spent one year in Italy, where he began seriously studying cinema under the tutelage of an Italian actor and photographer Antonello Villani. Upon his graduation from University, Eugene began working as a research assistant in a law firm, simultaneously attending an evening program of film directing at the New York Film Academy. During that time, Eugene wrote and directed three short films, and also worked as a crew member on a number of others. After a two-year working period, Eugene finally decided to dedicate himself fully to cinema, and moved to Paris to pursue a Masters degree as a film director, joining the Master class of Nenad Dizdarevic at the International Film School of Paris. In Paris, Eugene wrote and directed three short films. He also produced eight other films directed by his classmates. Eugene's end of year film, an adaptation of Anton Chekhov's story titled Anyuta, was projected at the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival Market in 2007. Several other projects produced by Eugene, such as Déplacés, a film by Klaus Pas, were recognized at some international festivals. At the moment Eugene is living in Paris and working on several projects, among them a script for a feature length movie to be co-directed by Eugene and Mr. Pas. Eugene has the experience of shooting and working with actors in English, French and Russian languages.