Levan Gabriadze

Levan "Leo" Gabriadze (Georgian: …) is a Georgian‑Russian actor and film director best known for the 2014 internet‑horror film Unfriended. Born on 16 November 1969 in Tbilisi, then part of the Soviet Georgian SSR, he grew up in a creative household; his father Revaz Gabriadze was a celebrated actor, writer and director, which gave young Levan early exposure to theatre and cinema. By the age of twelve he was already participating in his father’s productions, learning the craft of performance and set design, and at seventeen he landed one of the principal roles in the cult sci‑fi comedy Kin‑dza‑dza! playing Gedevan Alexandrovich Alexidze, a performance that cemented his reputation in Soviet‑era cinema. After completing studies at the Shota Rustaveli Theatre and Film University, where he specialized in acting and set design, Gabriadze fulfilled his mandatory service in the Soviet Air Defense Forces as a private fireman, an experience he often cites as shaping his discipline and work ethic. In 1990 he relocated to the United States to attend the University of California, Los Angeles, enrolling in the Faculty of Design and Animation, where he honed his visual storytelling skills and developed a fascination with computer‑generated imagery. Returning to the post‑Soviet space in 2000, Gabriadze settled in Moscow and joined the Bazelevs film company as advertising director, a role that allowed him to blend commercial sensibilities with experimental techniques. His directorial debut, the comedy‑action film Lucky Trouble (released in 2011), earned the audience award “Golden Taiga” at the Spirit of Fire festival, signaling his arrival as a filmmaker of note. This was followed by segment work on the popular Russian New Year series Yolki (2011, 2013) before he tackled the globally‑distributed horror project Unfriended (2014), a pioneering film told entirely through computer screens that garnered worldwide attention for its innovative narrative structure. In the latter part of the 2010s Gabriadze returned to his cultural roots, directing the animated feature Rezo (released in 2018), an adaptation of his father’s beloved stories that combined traditional Georgian folklore with modern animation techniques. Throughout his multifaceted career, Gabriadze has seamlessly transitioned between acting, directing, and visual design, earning recognition in both Russian and international markets. His body of work reflects a blend of Eastern European theatrical tradition and contemporary digital storytelling, positioning him as a distinctive voice in 21st‑century cinema.