Emil Loteanu (6 November 1936 – 18 April 2003) was a Moldovan and Soviet film director born in what is now Moldova.

[1] Emil Vladimirovich Loteanu was born on 6 November 1936 in the Bessarabian village Clocuşna (now Ocniţa District, Moldova); at the time, the area was part of Greater Romania.

After the death of his father and losing contact with his mother, who had moved to Romania, he lived his early life on the streets, sleeping in warehouses and hostels.

The film was a co-production between Britain and the Soviet Union and featured American director Martin Scorsese in a cameo role.

[4] In 1979, Loteanu married actress Galina Belyayeva, who starred in his films A Hunting Accident and Anna Pavlova.

In the late 1980s, he returned to "Moldova-Film" and worked on Moldovan television, where he made a film adaption of Mihai Eminescu's poem Luceafărul.

In 1998, he staged the play Unconditionally Yours, Antosha Chekhonte based on Chekhov's "The Bear" and "Wedding" at the Moscow Art Theatre named after M. Gorky.