Slava Tsukerman

Vladislav Slava Mendelevich Tsukerman Russian Слава Владислав Менделевич Цукерман March 9 1940 March 2 2026 was a Russian film director of Jewish origin He was born in the Soviet Union and emigrated in 1973 with his wife Nina Kerova to Israel In 1976 he moved to New York City He is best known for producing directing and writing the screenplay for the 1982 cult film Liquid Sky He also directed the 2004 documentary Stalins Wife about Nadezhda Alliluyeva and the 2008 film Perestroika Today he resides in New York City with his wife and producing partner Nina Kerova In the 1960s he studied at the Moscow Institute of Civil Engineering MISI where he began creating Tsukerman made his first film at 21 years of age titled I Believe in Spring It was the first independent short fiction film in Soviet history It won first prize at the AllUnion Festival of Amateur Films in Moscow It went on to win a prize at the Montreal World Film Festival In the 1970s he immigrated to Israel and worked for Israeli television There he filmed a documentary titled Once Upon a Time There Were Russians in Jerusalem The film won Best Documentary and Best Director at The World Television Film Festival in Hollywood