Igor Ivanov (b. 1973, Skopje, FYROM) studied philosophy and began his film career in 1993, when he started directing series of films for television. Between 1995 and 2004 he made several documentaries and short films; one of them, the 15-minute-long Bugs (Bubački, 2004), was in competition of the 54th Berlinale and won Golden Leopard at the Locarno festival.

The title Upside Down, an adaptation of the novel Navel of the World by contemporary FYROMacedonian writer Venko Andonovski, is his feature film debut. The film clearly revives the poetic quality of the so-called “Black Wave” in Yugoslav film during the 1960s, which closely examined the afflictions of society’s “other face” and the fatal dimensions of human existence. The world premiere of Upside Down was at Karlovy Vary Film Festival 2007 and it won Best Director award at Valencia Film Festival in Spain as well as the jury award at MOVEAST film festival in Pecs-Hungary.