Fellows

Satellite Fellows 2022

Abby Kollek

A FILMMAKER OF TRIBUTES

AS STORIES GO BY: EARLY YOUTH BETWEEN TWO COUNTRIES

Abby Kollek

Abigail “Abby” Kollek is a New York-based filmmaker, writer, and actress. She was born in Israel to an artistic family, unavoidably turned to the arts by her director father and photographer mother. Due to their work, she spent her childhood between two homes – Israel and the States – which influenced a torn identity. She grew up writing stories and skits for her friends, and at age thirteen, was cast in the lead role in Jerusalem’s local English-speaking theater’s production of The Diary of Anne Frank. Her performance garnered praise and introduced her to her passion for acting. As an introverted teenager, she found solace and connection on the stage and in onscreen personas, and fell in love with film.

She returned to New York City to pursue her film studies, graduating from the Fashion Institute of Technology with a Bachelor’s degree in Film and Media. In her free time, she focused on her writing and attended acting classes at H.B. Studio.

FILMS & PRESENT DAY

WHAT IS BEAUTIFUL BUT ELUSIVE IN OUR LIVES CAN COME CLOSE TO TANGIBLE, AND CAPTURED FOREVER, IN THE MOVIES.

Abby has starred in the international feature Emma's Final Project, an experimental drama developed together with her father, award-winning indie filmmaker Amos Kollek. In college, she developed her voice and style as a writer and director, including her student film Sophia, Sunday, a short romantic drama and recipient of the Exceptional Merit at the WRPN Women’s International Film Festival (2021).

Most recently, she received a grant to complete production for her debut feature, neo-noir film Twenty Seven, currently advancing into final post-production stages. The film is an ode to the East Village, and various youth icons of pop culture.

twentysevenmovie.com

Abby Kollek

FILMMAKING: A PLACE LIKE HOME

IN MOVIES, ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING CAN HAPPEN – REALITIES, DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES HARMONIZE.

Abby’s work tends to surround relationships, family, coming-of-age, edge of youth, and themes of masculinity/femininity. She searches for bonds and intimacy between complex characters, often against haunting atmospheres. Darkness is always fused with light, childishness and humor persist through seriosity, and deceptions of the heart try to uncover a hidden truth. We are all alike, and we are all aliens – both looking for love and rejecting it, losing purpose and regaining it; these magnify upon the screen, and turn from haze into something we can almost touch.

She strives to spark feeling and joy in her viewers, as well as in her cast and crew – and believes filmmaking itself should be a humane and bright place, where everyone, no matter their position, is treated with dignity and appreciation. Her work is laced with tributes and references to those she admires and loves, from other filmmakers and artists, to her friends and anonymous encounters.

Abby Kollek