Ignatiy Igorevich Vishnevetsky (; russian: Игнатий Игоревич Вишневецкий; born September 5, 1986)Vishnevetsky, Ignati
''Time Indefinite'': "A Talk with Sergei Loznitsa"
''

Mubi Mubi (; stylized as MUBI; The Auteurs before 2010) is a global curated film streaming platform, production company and film distributor. Mubi produces and theatrically distributes films by emerging and established filmmakers, which are exclusiv ...

'' is a

Russian-American Russian Americans ( rus, русские американцы, r=russkiye amerikantsy, p= ˈruskʲɪje ɐmʲɪrʲɪˈkant͡sɨ) are Americans of full or partial Russian ancestry. The term can apply to recent Russian immigrants to the United State ...

film critic, essayist, and columnist. He has worked as a staff film critic for '' The A.V. Club'' and written for

Mubi.com Mubi (; stylized as MUBI; The Auteurs before 2010) is a global curated film streaming platform, production company and film distributor. Mubi produces and theatrically distributes films by emerging and established filmmakers, which are exclusive ...

and the ''

Chicago Reader The ''Chicago Reader'', or ''Reader'' (stylized as ЯEADER), is an American alternative weekly newspaper in Chicago, Illinois, noted for its literary style of journalism and coverage of the arts, particularly film and theater. It was founded by ...

''.Zeitchek, Steve
"Who is Ignatiy Vishnevetsky?"
''The L.A. Times''Kohn, Eric
FUTURES: ''At the Movies'' co-host Ignatiy Vishnevetsky
''

Indiewire IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Holl ...

'' Vishnevetsky co-hosted '' Roger Ebert Presents: At the Movies'', a

nationally syndicated Broadcast syndication is the practice of leasing the right to broadcasting television shows and radio programs to multiple television stations and radio stations, without going through a broadcast network. It is common in the United States wher ...

film criticism Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films and the film medium. In general, film criticism can be divided into two categories: journalistic criticism that appears regularly in newspapers, magazines and other popular mass-media out ...

television show, Ebert, Rogerbr>"Roger Ebert's Journal: ''Ebert Presents at the Movies''"
, ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...

'' with

Christy Lemire Christy A. Lemire (née Nemetz; born August 30, 1972) is an American film critic and host of the movie review podcast ''Breakfast All Day''. She previously wrote for the Associated Press from 1999 to 2013, was a co-host of '' Ebert Presents at ...

.Braun, Li
"Ebert chooses 2nd host for 'Movies'"
''The Toronto Sun''

Early life and education

Vishnevetsky was born in Moscow, the son of Russian poet

Igor Vishnevetsky Igor Georgievich Vishnevetsky (russian: link=no, Игорь Георгиевич Вишневецкий; born 5 January 1964) is a Russian-born poet, novelist, screenwriter, and editor. He has been a contributor and editor in numerous literary j ...

.Christopher, Ro
"And the Co-Host of ''Roger Ebert Presents'' Is..."
''The Chicagoist'' He has said that his paternal ancestors were

Don Cossacks Don Cossacks (russian: Донские казаки, Donskie kazaki) or Donians (russian: донцы, dontsy) are Cossacks who settled along the middle and lower Don. Historically, they lived within the former Don Cossack Host (russian: Д� ...

, and he is of Polish and Jewish descent through his maternal ancestry. He moved to the United States at the age of eight, following his parents' divorce.Metz, Nina
"Roger Ebert is back on TV, with a new man on deck"
''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...

'' Although he did not formally study English in school while living in Russia, Vishnevetsky claims that he learned the language "entirely from TV and American TV commercials I watched constantly". He lived with his father, stepmother, and stepbrother in

Decatur, Georgia Decatur is a city in, and the county seat of, DeKalb County, Georgia, which is part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. With a population of 24,928 in the 2020 census, the municipality is sometimes assumed to be larger since multiple ZIP Codes ...

, and, four years later, relocated to

Wauwatosa, Wisconsin Wauwatosa (; known informally as Tosa; originally Wau-wau-too-sa or Hart's Mill) is a city in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 48,387 at the 2020 census. Wauwatosa is located immediately west of Milwaukee, and is a pa ...

, where he graduated from Wauwatosa East High SchoolDudek, Duan
"''At The Movies'' hosts a Wauwatosa East alum"
''

Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel The ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where it is the primary newspaper. It is also the largest newspaper in the state of Wisconsin, where it is widely distributed. It is currently ...

'' and then moved to Chicago, where he briefly attended

Columbia College Chicago Columbia College Chicago is a private art college in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1890, it has 5,928https://about.colum.edu/effectiveness/pdf/spring-2021-student-profile.pdf students pursuing degrees in more than 60 undergraduate and graduat ...

, studying film directing.

Career

Before working as a film critic, Vishnevetsky worked as a translator, movie theater usher, and laundromat attendant. Beginning in 2004, he became involved with Chicago's cinephile community, many of whose members he met through the now-defunct video rental store Odd Obsession.Cuddy, Allison
"Young Chicago critic tapped to host ''Roger Ebert Presents at the Movies''"
,

WBEZ WBEZ (91.5 FM) – branded ''WBEZ 91.5'' – is a non-commercial educational radio station licensed to serve Chicago, Illinois, and primarily serving the Chicago metropolitan area. Financed by corporate underwriting, government funding and lis ...

He was involved in a screening space called North Western Avenue, whose participants later co-founded the film website Cine-File.info, to which Vishnevetsky contributed."Episode 128: Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, Pt. 1." Podcast
''Film in Focus''
December 7, 2011. In 2006, Vishnevetsky wrote and directed a 45-minute short film;Cangialosi, Jason

Yahoo! Yahoo! (, styled yahoo''!'' in its logo) is an American web services provider. It is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California and operated by the namesake company Yahoo! Inc. (2017–present), Yahoo Inc., which is 90% owned by investment funds ma ...

Movies. he also served as the film's film editor and

cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the photographing or recording of a film, television production, music video or other live action piece. The cinematographer is the c ...

. Soon after a final cut was completed, a hard drive failure destroyed much of the footage. In an interview with the

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...

''Film in Focus'', Vishnevetsky stated that the experience led him to pursue

full-time. Vishnevetsky published a film

zine A zine ( ; short for '' magazine'' or '' fanzine'') is a small-circulation self-published work of original or appropriated texts and images, usually reproduced via a copy machine. Zines are the product of either a single person or of a very s ...

called ''Zero for Conduct'' before joining the NYU-based film journal ''Tisch Film Review'' and then

MUBI Mubi (; stylized as MUBI; The Auteurs before 2010) is a global curated film streaming platform, production company and film distributor. Mubi produces and theatrically distributes films by emerging and established filmmakers, which are exclusiv ...

. In the fall of 2010, he was approached by

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

and his wife, Chaz Ebert, about auditioning for their new television show, '' Ebert Presents: At the Movies''. After several months of auditions, Vishnevetsky was announced as the show's co-host alongside

. Vishnevetsky replaced critic Elvis Mitchell, who had appeared in the show's pilot but left the production for undisclosed reasons. Vishnevetsky's directed a short film, ''Ellie Lumme'', which premiered in 2014.Metz, Nina
Underground films see the light through fest.
''

The Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

''.

Critical style

He has described himself as "more of an optimist for the future of cinema than for the future of movies", stating that in his view the two were not synonymous. Comparing Vishnevetsky with his co-host,

, ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, t ...

'' writer Steven James Snyder wrote that Lemire was "more preoccupied with finesse and plot points", while Vishnevetsky was "more interested in structure, experimentation and mood".Snyder, Steven James
"Roger Ebert's New TV Show: Two New Thumbs, One Overdue Comeback"
''

''.

Preferences

In the February 11, 2011 episode of ''Ebert presents At the Movies'', Vishnevetsky stated that the greatest influence on his work as a critic was

Jean-Luc Godard Jean-Luc Godard ( , ; ; 3 December 193013 September 2022) was a French-Swiss film director, screenwriter, and film critic. He rose to prominence as a pioneer of the French New Wave film movement of the 1960s, alongside such filmmakers as Fran ...

's video project '' Histoire(s) du cinéma''. In the same episode, he named the silent films '' True Heart Susie'' and '' Foolish Wives''; the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

documentary ''

Shoah The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ar ...

''; and

Jacques Tati Jacques Tati (; born Jacques Tatischeff, ; 9 October 1907 – 5 November 1982) was a French mime, film-maker, actor and screenwriter. In an ''Entertainment Weekly'' poll of the Greatest Movie Directors, he was voted the 46th greatest of all time ...

's ''

Playtime ''Playtime'' (stylized as ''PlayTime'' and also written as ''Play Time'') is a 1967 comedy film directed by Jacques Tati. In the film, Tati again plays Monsieur Hulot, the popular character who had central roles in his earlier films ''Les Vacanc ...

'' as the movies that made him want to become a film critic. In a blog post presented as an "appendix" to the episode, he revealed that he writes the majority of his

by hand and will sometimes "edit together" essays out of notes and parts of unpublished texts.Vishnevetsky, Ignatiy
"Appendix to Episode #104"
''Sounds, Images''. Vishnevetsky participated in the 2012 ''Sight & Sound'' critics' poll, where he listed ten of his favorite films as follows: '' Blow Out'', '' Days of Being Wild'', '' Dead or Alive 2: Birds'', ''

Hotel America ''Hotel America'' (french: Hôtel des Amériques) is a 1981 French romantic drama film directed by André Téchiné, starring Catherine Deneuve and Patrick Dewaere. The film, set in Biarritz, tells the ill-fated romance of mismatched lovers. This ...

'', ''

The Lady from Shanghai ''The Lady from Shanghai'' is a 1947 American film noir directed by Orson Welles (uncredited) and starring Welles, his estranged wife Rita Hayworth, and Everett Sloane. It is based on the novel ''If I Die Before I Wake'' by Sherwood King. Alt ...

'', '' Modern Romance'', ''

Mysteries of Lisbon ''Mysteries of Lisbon'' ( pt, Mistérios de Lisboa) is a 2010 Portuguese period drama film directed by Chilean filmmaker Raúl Ruiz based on an 1854 novel of the same name by Camilo Castelo Branco. The movie's running time is 272 minutes. It pla ...

'', '' Red Viburnum'', ''

RoboCop ''RoboCop'' is a 1987 American Science fiction film, science fiction action film directed by Paul Verhoeven and written by Edward Neumeier and Michael Miner. The film stars Peter Weller, Nancy Allen (actress), Nancy Allen, Dan O'Herlihy, Dan ...

'', and '' Some Came Running''. Vishnevetsky compiled his list by writing 90 of his favorite titles on scraps of paper and then drawing ten from a bowl.

Personal life

Vishnevetsky has retained his Russian citizenship,Stingl, Jim
"From Stingl's kitchen to Ebert's orbit"
''

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel The ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where it is the primary newspaper. It is also the largest newspaper in the state of Wisconsin, where it is widely distributed. It is currently ...

'' and obtained American citizenship in 2017. He lived in Chicago with his wife, Theresa Roberts, a sculptor and installation artist. They married on January 10, 2011, and have two children together.

References

External links

*
IMDBEbert Presents At the Movies biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vishnevetsky, Ignatiy 1986 births Living people 21st-century American essayists 21st-century American male writers 21st-century Russian writers American bloggers American film critics American male bloggers American people of Polish descent American people of Jewish descent American Cossacks Naturalized citizens of the United States People from Wauwatosa, Wisconsin Russian emigrants to the United States Russian film critics Russian male essayists Russian people of Polish descent Russian people of Jewish descent Don Cossacks Russian television presenters Television personalities from Chicago The Onion people Writers from Chicago Writers from Moscow Writers from Wisconsin