# Sacha Polak > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Sacha_Polak > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Sacha_Polak.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacha_Polak > Source revision: 1308598731 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Dutch film director Sacha Polak in 2011 **Sacha Polak** (born 1982) is a Dutch film director. ## Career In 2012 Polak's feature film debut *Hemel* played at the [62nd Berlin International Film Festival](/source/62nd_Berlin_International_Film_Festival). This film, translated into Russian by Andrey Efremov, was shown in 2014 in the [Russian](/source/Russia) city of [Vologda](/source/Vologda) as part of the VOICES Young Cinema [Festival](/source/Film_Festival). Additionally her short *Brother* and her step-mother [Meral Uslu](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Meral_Uslu&action=edit&redlink=1)'s film on which she was a script supervisor, all played at the festival as well.[1] In 2014 Polak was initially going to direct the film *[Vita & Virginia](/source/Vita_%26_Virginia)* about the love-affair between [Virginia Woolf](/source/Virginia_Woolf) and [Vita Sackville-West](/source/Vita_Sackville-West) but was she replaced by [Chanya Button](/source/Chanya_Button).[2] In 2015 Polak's second film *Zurich* played at the [65th Berlin International Film Festival](/source/65th_Berlin_International_Film_Festival).[3] Polak's next feature film was the movie *[Dirty God](/source/Dirty_God)* about a woman who sustained facial burns after an acid attack by her ex-partner.[4] This film won her the [Golden Calf](/source/Golden_Calf_(award)) award for best direction at the 2019 [Netherlands Film Festival](/source/Netherlands_Film_Festival).[5] The lead actress in the film, [Vicky Knight](/source/Vicky_Knight), won a BAFTA Breakthrough Brits award for new talent at the 2019 [British Academy of Film and Television Arts awards](/source/British_Academy_of_Film_and_Television_Arts_award).[6] ## Personal life Polak's mother died of [breast cancer](/source/Breast_cancer) 11 months after she was born.[7] Director [Meral Uslu](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Meral_Uslu&action=edit&redlink=1) is her step-mother. ## Filmography - *[Hemel](/source/Hemel_(film))* (2012) - *Zurich* (2015) - *[Dirty God](/source/Dirty_God)* (2019) - [*Hanna*](/source/Hanna_(TV_series)) (2019-2021) - *[Silver Haze](/source/Silver_Haze_(film))* (2023)[8] ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["Return to Berlin: interview with director Sacha Polak"](http://www.filmfestival.nl/profs_en/news/interviews/return-to-berlin-interview-with-director-sacha-polak/). Retrieved 7 May 2015. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** McCarthy, Esther (18 February 2018). ["'Vita & Virginia' with Gemma Arterton, Elizabeth Debicki: exclusive new image and set report"](https://www.screendaily.com/features/vita-and-virginia-with-gemma-arterton-elizabeth-debicki-exclusive-new-image-and-set-report/5126779.article). *[Screen Daily](/source/Screen_Daily)*. Retrieved 29 October 2020. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Lodge, Guy. ["Film Review: 'Zurich'"](https://variety.com/2015/film/festivals/film-review-zurich-1201434146/). Retrieved 7 May 2015. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Dalton, Ben. ["First look at Sacha Polak's acid attack drama 'Dirty God' (exclusive)"](https://www.screendaily.com/news/first-look-at-sacha-polaks-acid-attack-drama-dirty-god-exclusive/5126527.article). Retrieved 9 September 2018. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["Dirty God van Sacha Polak wint het belangrijkste Gouden Kalf"](https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2019/10/04/dirty-god-van-sacha-polak-wint-het-belangrijkste-gouden-kalf-a3975732). *NRC* (in Dutch). Retrieved 2019-10-15. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["Breakthrough Brits 2019"](http://www.bafta.org/supporting-talent/breakthrough-brits/breakthrough-brits-2019). *British Academy Film Awards*. 30 October 2019. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20191101134032/http://www.bafta.org/supporting-talent/breakthrough-brits/breakthrough-brits-2019#vicky-knight--actor) from the original on 1 November 2019. Retrieved 29 October 2020. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** ["VIFF 2014 Review: New Boobs"](https://jontheblogcentric.wordpress.com/tag/sacha-polak/). Retrieved 15 June 2015. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** Polak, Sacha (13 February 2023). ["*Silver Haze*"](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/438155/). *Cineuropa*. Retrieved 13 February 2023. ## External links - [Sacha Polak](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2383508/) at [IMDb](/source/IMDb_(identifier)) Authority control databases International ISNI VIAF GND WorldCat National United States Netherlands Poland People Deutsche Biographie DDB Other IdRef Yale LUX v t e Golden Calf for Best Director Dick Maas (1983) Rudolf van den Berg (1984) Paul Verhoeven (1985) Alex van Warmerdam (1986) Dick Maas (1987) Pieter Verhoeff (1988) Frans Weisz (1989) Frouke Fokkema (1990) Frans Weisz (1991) Alex van Warmerdam (1992) Ben Sombogaart (1993) Rosemarie Blank (1994) Marleen Gorris (1995) Theo van Gogh (1996) Rudolf van den Berg (1997) Karim Traïdia (1998) Roel Reiné (1999) Jean van de Velde (2000) Martin Koolhoven (2001) Alejandro Agresti (2002) Pieter Kuijpers (2003) Eddy Terstall (2004) Nanouk Leopold (2005) Paul Verhoeven (2006) Mijke de Jong (2007) Joram Lürsen (2008) Urszula Antoniak (2009) Rudolf van den Berg (2010) Nanouk Leopold (2011) Paula van der Oest (2012) Jim Taihuttu (2013) Saskia Diesing (2014) Remy van Heugten (2015) Boudewijn Koole (2016) Martin Koolhoven (2017) Jaap van Heusden (2018) Sacha Polak (2019) Mischa Kamp (2020) Sabine Lubbe Bakker, Niels van Koevorden (2021) Mascha Halberstad (2022) Ena Sendijarević (2023) Michael Middelkoop (2024) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Sacha Polak](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacha_Polak) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacha_Polak?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.