Gennadi Poloka

Gennadi Ivanovich Poloka was a Soviet and Russian film director, screenwriter, producer and actor. Peoples Artist of Russia . IV Class Order For Merit to the Fatherland .

Gennadi Poloka was born in Kuybyshev . His family name comes from his Slovak greatgrandfather who left AustriaHungary for the Russian Empire just before the start of the World War I, saving from ethnic cleansing of Slavs. Poloka commented on his ethnicity I come from a multinational family there were Poles, Germans, Ukrainians... I have a strange surname. Every time I arrive in some country, theres always a question at the pressconference about my ethnicity. But I have a straight answer I am Russian. I really love Russia and cant live more than ten days abroad. Poloka decided to become a film director since the age of 10, after he saw The Great Waltz. He survived the war in evacuation in Novosibirsk, together with his mother.

Source: Wikipedia