About Boris Sverlow

Boris Sverlow (°1986) is a young Belgian-American film director with Russian roots based in Antwerp.

In 2011 he graduated from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts (KASK), Ghent, with his animation short film “Shattered Past”. This movie depicts the story of his great grand parents fleeing the turbulent Russian revolution of 1917. Using old photographs, video and collage he created his own unique style.

This film received over 20 selections at prestigious festivals worldwide and was awarded several prizes, among which the desirable VAF Wildcard at the Leuven Short Film Festival 2011. This award included a grant that allowed him to create his debut short film “Gerontophobia” which premiered at the 21th Busan International Film Festival.

In search of new ways to combine different film techniques, he aims to find an aesthetic that feels contemporary yet grounded in old film tradition.

In recent years he created a one minute short “Bring Us the Key” for the VAF Peace Project to commemorate The Great War (1914-1918) in Belgium, which was shown on national television station Canvas and at international film festivals worldwide.

He has also collaborated with the Martha Tentative theatre company and the Red Star Line Museum in Antwerp for Dinska Bronska, a film and dance performance on migration.