Lev Polyakov was born in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1988, and moved to New York at the age of 4. He began drawing when he was 10, taking lessons from his father, artist and designer Alexander Polyakov. Some of Lev's early drawings were published in Young Voices magazine. Lev also studied acting for 4 years at Young Actors program at Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute, performing in a number of plays including an off-off-Broadway play Fairy Tale. He began animating when he was 13, while working as intern for Signe Baumane, one of New York's most prominent independent animators. Lev's first short film, Piper the Goat and the Peace Pipe (2005), won the pre-college film competition at the 2005 Ottawa International Animation Festival. His next short film, Morning, Day, Evening, Night ... and Morning Again (2006), was screened in the undergraduate film competition at OIAF 2006, as well as earned Lev an honorary membership and a student grant from the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures. At present time Lev is working on his thesis film at the Animation Program at School of Visual Arts, New York.

Memorable quotes:

"... the marvelous animated short [Only Love] … uses a delightful 2-D visual approach to tell the darkly humorous, virtually wordless account of a dictator combating the ghosts of his past misdeeds. Wielding a style reminiscent of Bill Plympton -- but packed with far richer metaphor -- Polyakov ... announces his arrival as a fresh talent in the animation scene." -- Eric Kohn, IndieWIRE.

"Another standout at the fest was "Only Love", an animated short that breathes new life into 2D animation and is directed with gusto by Lev Polyakov. The film tells the story of a foreign dictator coming to grips with his own mortality and facing the demons of his past. Merging Russian archetypes and surrealist imagery, this jewel highlights a maturity that makes it exceptional." -- The Inside Reel.

"The energy and bizarre humour of this high school student film suggests an original talent with great promise." -- jury comments, Ottawa 2005 International Animation Festival.

"Lev is improving by leaps and bounds. I know he will be a filmmaker of renown someday," -- David Levy, president of ASIFA East .