Michael Idov (Michael Mark Zilberman) is a Latvian-American novelist, screenwriter and director. His works include films Leto (Cannes Main Competition, 2018) and The Humorist, German television series Deutschland 89, and novels Ground Up and The Collaborators.
Biography
Family and early years Michael Idov was born in Riga, Latvia, in 1976, to Jewish parents Mark Zilberman and Yelena Zilberman née Idov. His family immigrated into the U.S. as refugees in 1992, and were naturalized in 1998. After graduating from the University of Michigan with a BFA in Dramatic Writing and Film and Video Studies, Idov moved to New York City to start his writing career. His journalistic work, mostly for New York Magazine, garnered three National Magazine Awards and was featured in The Best American Magazine Writing collection. His 2009 debut novel, Ground Up, became an unexpected bestseller in Russia in the author's own self-translation, and in 2012, Idov moved to Moscow to work as the editor in chief of GQ Russia. He quit the job and left Russia shortly after the annexation of Crimea in 2014; the experience formed the basis of his 2018 memoir, Dressed Up for a Riot.
Private life Idov lives in Berlin and Los Angeles with wife and frequent screenwriting collaborator Lily and daughter Vera.
Bilingualism Idov writes in English and Russian, mostly keeping the two bodies of work separate and using the name "Mikhail Idov" (Михаил Идов) for his Russian-language output. In 2009, he became the first Anglophone writer since Vladimir Nabokov to republish a novel in a Russian self-translation. Idov's unusual approach to transligualism and identity, which essentially involves maintaining two personas, has attracted some academic attention and analysis, with one researcher, Dr. Adrian Wanner, noting his "refus[al] to openly play the 'Russian card,' the 'Jewish card,' or the 'immigrant card'." However, in 2022, responding to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Idov announced that he will not be writing in Russian as long as Vladimir Putin remains in power.
Books +YearTitlePublisherNotes2009Ground UpFarrar, Straus & Girouxnovel2009Кофемолка (The Coffee Grinder)CorpusSelf-translation of Ground Up2011Made In Russia: Unsung Icons of Soviet DesignRizzoliessay collection, edited by2013Чёс (The Gig)CorpusCollection of original Russian short stories2018Dressed Up for a RiotFarrar, Straus & Girouxmemoir2024The CollaboratorsScribnernovel2026The Cormorant HuntScribnernovel, sequel to The Collaborators
Filmography
Film +YearEnglish titleOriginal titleWriterDirector2015Soulless 2Духлесс 2yesno2018The HumoristЮмористyesyes2018LetoЛетоyesno2021JetlagДжетлагyesyes
Television +YearEnglish titleOriginal titleCreator/Showrunner2015LondongradЛондонградyes2017The OptimistsОптимистыyes2020Deutschland 89no
References