Igor Lopatonok

Igor Lopatonok (born 1968 in the Ukrainian SSR, USSR) is a film producer, holding also US and Russian passports.[1] He is known for his work in colorization and 3D conversion and as a documentary filmmaker.

Igor Lopatonok in 2017

Biography

Lopatonok began to study engineering at the Dnipropetrovsk National University at age 16. Later he finished at Moscow State Institute of International Relations studies in International Finance and worked for a few years in this area. In 2005 he began his career as a producer in the film business, by co-founding the production company Technomedia which specialised in offering new digital technologies to Ukrainian film professionals.[2] One example of work was the colorization of Only "Old Men" Are Going Into Battle, a Soviet war drama from the 1970s filmed in black and white.[3]

He was responsible for the 3D effects in The Nutcracker in 3D.

His production company is Global 3 Pictures.[4] With Oliver Stone as executive producer, he directed the controversial documentary Ukraine on Fire about the Maidan Uprising during the winter months of 2013/14.[5]

His 2019 documentary film, Revealing Ukraine, produced by Stone, featured interviews with Vladimir Putin.[6]

In 2021, his film, Qazaq: History of the Golden Man, was released as both a feature film and an eight-hour miniseries, produced by Stone, who featured in it interviewing Kazakhstan’s former authoritarian ruler, Nursultan Nazarbayev. The film received at least $5 million funding from Nazarbayev's own charitable foundation, Elbasy, via the country's State Center for Support of National Cinema, according to the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project. Stone and Lopatonok had denied any Kazakhstani government involvement.[4][7][8] According to Rolling Stone, "What little attention Qazaq did receive was largely negative, with critics decrying the film for its glowing depiction of Nazarbayev."[4]

In 2022, it was reported that Lopatonok was making a film about Russia's invasion of Ukraine.[9]

Private life

From 1992 until 2009 he was married to Marina Lopatonok.[10] His second marriage (2009-2017) was with Nina Podolska.[11]

In 2008 he moved to the Los Angeles area where he resides since.[12][13]

Filmography
(as director)
  • Qazaq: History of the Golden Man (2021)
  • The Everlasting Present - Ukraine: 30 Years of Independence (2021)
  • Revealing Ukraine (2019)
  • Ukraine on Fire (2016)

References
  1. "Igor Lopatonok carries the torch of Russian influence in Hollywood". Intelligence Online. Indigo Publications. 2021-03-15. Retrieved 2022-06-14. Igor Lopatonok, the filmmaker born in Ukraine in 1968 and made a US citizen after moving to Los Angeles in 2008, added Russian to his list of nationalities on 24 February.
  2. Interview: Aaron Mate & Igor Lopatonok (2017-08-22). "How the US Helped Set 'Ukraine on Fire'". The Real News Network. Retrieved 2022-06-15. Director and Producer Igor Lopatonok started his career in his native Ukraine. Co-founding the Ukrainian production company Technomedia, Igor pioneered cutting-edge technologies in the restoration, colorization and repurposing of famous Soviet Union classic movies
  3. "Художественный фильм «В бой идут одни „старики"»" [Feature film «Only „old men“ are going into battle»]. Channel One (in Russian). 2016-05-06. Retrieved 2022-06-13. While researching the film's history, I came across the fact that Bykov wanted to shoot the picture in colour. He wanted and asked to be given a colour film. The only colour film available at the Dovzhenko studio was for socialist realism films; Bykov was told that if you shoot a film about tractor drivers to order, we will give him film. That was the year 1973. The stagnation. You had to make a film about living well. And how could you make a film about the war with songs? The Arts Council didn't allow it. And Bykov was only given film in black and white. I believe that by our work we have fulfilled the wishes of the director.
  4. Blistein, Jon (12 October 2022). "You'll Never Guess Where Oliver Stone Allegedly Got $5 Million to Make His Glowing Doc About Kazakhstan's Ex-Authoritarian Ruler". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
  5. Pacheco, Marta (2022-03-16). "Oliver Stone's 2016 Ukraine on Fire defies mainstream narrative on Russia-Ukraine war". Travel Tomorrow. Buscardini Communications. Retrieved 2022-06-14. Ukraine on Fire presents a likely controversial overview of Ukraine's political history leading up to the 2014 protests in Euromaidan and shedding light on today's military developments in Eastern Europe. Directed by Igor Lopatonok and produced by Oscar winner Oliver Stone, the 2016 documentary defies the mainstream media narrative on the geopolitical analysis of the Russia-Ukraine conflict [..] Described by critics as Russian propaganda, Oliver Stone's Ukraine on Fire 2016 documentary presents verifiable claims that bring a different perspective when reflecting on the military escalation in Ukraine and have recently been voiced by the US political scientist John Mearsheimer.
  6. Sharf, Zack (26 July 2019). "Oliver Stone Says He's Not Homophobic After Calling Russia's Anti-Gay Law 'Sensible'". Yahoo Entertainment. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
  7. Roth, Andrew (11 July 2021). "Oliver Stone derided for film about 'modest' former Kazakh president". the Guardian. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
  8. (Vlast.kz), Vyacheslav Abramov; (OCCRP), Ilya Lozovsky (10 October 2022). "Oliver Stone Documentary About Kazakhstan's Former Leader Nazarbayev Was Funded by a Nazarbayev Foundation". OCCRP. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
  9. Ravindran, Manori; Yossman, K.J.; Frater, Patrick (2 March 2022). "Global Entertainment Industry Mobilizes to Sanction Russia for the Invasion of Ukraine". Variety. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
  10. "Marina Lopatonok". Biographies.net. STANDS4 LLC. 2013-07-23. Retrieved 2022-06-14. Marina Lopatonok is the first wife of Igor Lopatonok. Spouses: Igor Lopatonok (1992 - 2009)
  11. "PODOLSKA vs LOPATONOK (case number BD637919)". County of Los Angeles: The Superior Court of California. 2017-03-17. Retrieved 2022-06-15.
  12. "RABBANIAN vs LOPATONOK (case number 21STCV47444)". County of Los Angeles: The Superior Court of California. 2021-12-29. Retrieved 2022-06-14.
  13. Sheremeta, Alina (2019-07-04). "A Film Starring Putin and Medvedchuk Claims to Explain Ukraine War. It Does Not". Hromadske International. Retrieved 2022-06-13. Lopatonok is a Ukrainian director who has lived in the U.S. since 2008. He became famous thanks to the provocative film 'Ukraine on Fire'. Although perhaps 'famous' is putting it strongly. Both films are associated with Stone while Lopatonok largely remains in the shadow of his Oscar-winning colleague despite directing the films.
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