Evgeny Afineevsky is a Russian-born film director, producer and cinematographer who lives in the United States. In 2016 Afineevsky was nominated for an Academy Award and Emmys for his documentary Winter on Fire.
Career
Afineevsky's filmmaking career began as a teenager when he won the First Prize for Best Documentary in Kazan, the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan, and was invited to participate in the Black Sea International Film Festival hosted by the USSR Pioneer Camp Orlyonok in Krasnodar region, Russia. During 1994-2000, Afineevsky coordinated and produced over 30 musicals in Israel, such as: “Bat”, “Gypsy Baron,” “Viennese Blood,” “Night in Venice,” “Silva Princess of Csárdás”, “Mozart Konzerte” with the Prague National Opera Orchestra, and many others. In 1997 and through the beginning of 1999, he produced and co-directed the play “The Mousetrap” by Agatha Christie, and with great success he produced and again co-directed a play by Agatha Christie titled “Spider Web’ in 1999. In 1999, still in Israel, he directed the TV series “Days of Love.” In 2000-2002, he produced three feature films, “Crime & Punishment,” starring Crispin Glover, John Hurt, Clive Revill, and Margot Kidder; “Death Game,” starring Billy Drago, Joe Lara, Richard Lynch and Bo Brown; and “The Return from India,” starring Aki Avni, Riki Gal, Assi Dayan, Dana Parnas and Orly Perl. As producer of “The Return from India”, Afineevsky received the Israeli Grand from the Israeli Film Fund. In 2005, he received The Gold Special Jury Award from the 38th Annual Houston Worldfest for “The Return from India.” In 2007, he received the Platinum Remi Award from the 40th Annual Houston Worldfest for his film “Crime & Punishment”. In 2008, he received the Platinum Remi Award from the 41st Annual Houston Worldfest for his film “Death Game”. He also received the Gold Remi Award for Best Original Comedy Screenplay for “Oy Vey! My Son Is Gay!” and he won the Best Original Screenplay / Script of the Year award from the Monaco Charity Film Festival for “Oy Vey! My Son Is Gay!,” which he produced and directed in 2008-2009-2010. “Oy Vey! My Son Is Gay!” was his feature directorial debut for which he collected over 23 awards in the US and abroad. Then he created the educational documentary project “Divorce: A Journey Through the Kids’ Eyes,” which was immediately picked up by distributors and received awards and recognition from the US festival circuit. His historical feature documentary Winter on Fire was an official selection of the Venice and Telluride international film festivals, received the People’s Choice Award for the Best Documentary from the Toronto International Film Festival, the 2016 Television Academy Honors and was nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Documentary category and the Primetime Emmy Awards in the . In 2016 Afineevsky spent months on the ground in Syria, using his cameras to craft a comprehensive account of the war. His new documentary, Cries from Syria, was an Official Selection at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival. HBO has acquired US TV rights to Cries from Syria ahead of its world premiere in the Documentary Premieres section of the 2017 Sundance Film Festival. The film debuted on March 13, 2017 and is available on HBO NOW, HBO GO, HBO On Demand and affiliate portals. In August 2017 Afineevsky was awarded with the Friend of the Free Press Trophy by the Los Angeles Press Club for his work on Cries from Syria. He was named the Best Director at the annual Critics' Choice Documentary Awards in New York on November 2, 2017. On November 21, 2017 Producers Guild of America named Cries from Syria among the nominees for the Outstanding Producer of Documentary Motion Pictures Award. He and his film earned IPA Satellite Awards nominations for Best Documentary and Best Song in a Documentary for , performed by Cher. The Awards Circuit Community Awards nominated his movie as Best Documentary Feature for 2017. He won ’s , earned a PGA Award nomination, won a Humanitas Prize and Cinema for Peace Awards as Most Valuable Documentary of the Year, won 32nd Fort Lauderdale Film Festival, Documentaries Without Borders Film Festival and 51st Houston WorldFest Film Festival, as well as the Overseas Press Club’s . During 2018, Afineevsky and his movie CRIES FROM SYRIA earned 4 Emmy nominations. On February 21, 2020 .
