Born in 1953, Moscow, Russia, Mikhail Gurevich is an American scholar, author, film critic and festival activist, with the specific focus on animation, puppetry, experimental theater and arthouse cinema. He is a festival organizer and juror, documentary filmmaker, educator, editor and translator. Mikhail graduated from the Moscow State Pedagogical University (MA) and from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He started his professional writing career in the late 1970s as a critic and journalist, publishing papers on the history of literature, contemporary criticism, sociology of culture, pedagogical and social issues. He worked as an editor for various periodicals and publishing houses. Mikhail gradually transitioned his interests to theater and film, focusing both on current critique and theoretical research. Mikhail was contributing to a variety of publications as critic at-large with a specific interest, such as puppetry and synthetic theater, experimental and documentary film, and especially animation. Having become an expert and an "inside-guild-critic" in certain fields, he worked extensively as an adviser, consultant, educator, and project developer for professional associations, such as Theatrical Society and Filmmakers' Union.
Board member at leading animation studio Soiuzmultfilm
Adviser and workshop leader at the animation studio Pilot
Lecturer: Georgetown, Stanford, University of Chicago, University of Texas,
Visiting Lecturer: University of Toronto, Nanyang University (Singapore)
Russian/English monthly Kino-Glaz [Cine-Eye]
KukArt [Pup-Art] on puppet theater, design and culture
Journals and magazines: Literary Gazette, Theatre journal, Art of Cinema journal
Multiple articles for the ASIFA magazine and various festival publications
Contributor: "Animation: A World History" Volumes 1-3. by Giannalberto Bendazzi. ISBN-13: 978-1138854529
Chicago International Film Festival
Chicago International Children Film Festival
Student Academy Award competitions.
Cineme Animation Festival, founder. Chicago. 2003
Fantoche Festival. Baden, Switzerland
Ottawa Animation Festival, Canada
Oberhausen Film Festival, Germany
Poznan Animator Festival. Poland, 201
Open Russian Animation Festival in Suzdal, 2014
Window to Europe Festival, Vyborg, Russia, 2015
Blow-up International Arthouse Film Festival. Jury Chair. Chicago. 2015
Blow-up International Arthouse Film Festival. Founder’s Career Achievement Award for Film Criticism. 2015