Top 100 Russian/Soviet Directors
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Vasili Goncharov was born in 1861. He was a director and writer, known for Votsareniye doma Romanovykh (1913), Pyotr Velikiy (1910) and Vanka-klyuchnik (1909). He died on 23 August 1915.- Director
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Yakov Protazanov was born on 4 February 1881 in Moscow, Russian Empire [now Russia]. He was a director and writer, known for A Narrow Escape (1920), Without Dowry (1937) and Kak khoroshi, kak svezhi byli rozy (1913). He died on 9 August 1945 in Moscow, Russian SFSR, USSR [now Russia].- Actor
- Director
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Vladimir Gardin was born on 18 January 1877 in Moscow, Russian Empire [now Russia]. He was an actor and director, known for War and Peace (1915), Peterburgskiye trushchobi (1915) and Landlord (1924). He was married to Tatyana Bulakh. He died on 29 May 1965 in Leningrad, RSFSR, USSR [now St. Petersburg, Russia].- Director
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- Production Designer
Yevgeni Bauer was the most important filmmaker of the early Russian cinema, who made about eighty silent films in 5 years before the Russian Revolution of 1917.
He was born Yevgeni Frantsevich Bauer in 1865, in Moscow, Russia, into an artistic family. His father, Franz Bauer, was a renown musician who played zither, his mother was an opera singer, and his sisters eventually became stage and cinema actresses. From 1882 - 1887 he studied at Moscow School of Art, Sculpture and Architecture, graduating in 1887, as an artist. At that time Bauer worked for Moscow theatres as a stage artist as well as a set designer for popular musicals and comedies. He was also known as a newspaper satirist, a caricaturist for magazines, a journalist, and a theatrical impresario. During the 1900s he became involved in still photography and worked as an artistic photographer, having several of his pictures published in the Russian media.
In 1912, Bauer was hired by A. Drankov and Taldykin as a production designer for Tryokhsotletie tsarstvovaniya doma Romanovykh (1913), then he became a film director for their company. After making four films as director for A. Drankov, he moved on to work for Pathe's Star Film Factory in Moscow, and made another four films for them. In 1913, Bauer was invited by the leading Russian producer Aleksandr Khanzhonkov. Their fruitful collaboration would last only four years, yielding about 70 films, of which less than a half survived. Among Bauer's best works with Khanzhyonkov were such films as After Death (1915), Her Sister's Rival (1916), and Revolyutsioner (1917), starring Ivane Perestiani as an Old revolutionary.
Bauer reached his peak in the genre of social drama, such as Daydreams (1915) (aka.. Daydreams), starring Alexander Wyrubow as Sergei, an obsessed widower who falls for an actress because of her resemblance of his late wife, but soon their characters clash, leading to a tragic end. Soon Yevgeni Bauer established himself as the leading film director in Russia. He achieved great financial success earning up to 40,000 rubles annually. In 1914, Bauer started using his wife's name, Ancharov, as his artistic name, due to the political pressure from rising Russian nationalism during the First World War, so he was credited as Ancharov in some of his films. Bauer was the main force behind successful careers of major Russian silent film stars of that time, such as Ivan Mozzhukhin and Vera Kholodnaya. With Vera Kholodnaya, Bauer made thirteen films back-to-back in one year. In After Death (1915) and Umirayushchiy lebed (1917), Bauer cast none other than Vera Karalli, the legendary ballerina of the Boshoi Theatre and Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes.
Bauer's style evolved from his experience as a theatre artist, actor and photographer who incorporated theatrical techniques in his films in a uniquely cinematic way. His mastery of lighting, his use of unusual camera angles and huge close-ups, his inventive and thoughtful montage and such theatrical effects as long shots through windows or his use of gauzes and curtains to alter the screen image, all these innovations were decades ahead of his time. Bauer was one of the first film directors who used the split screen. He introduced a multi-layered staging involving juxtaposed foreground and background with lush decor and thoughtful compositions alluding to classical paintings of the old masters. He developed ingenious camera movements, showing a remarkable depth of field, and achieving powerful dramatic effects. Bauer's vision and inventiveness, his integrated skills as artist, actor, photographer, and director, made him the leading filmmaker of the early Russian cinema.
Russia was a tough place for film and entertainment business, becoming increasingly unstable during the turbulent years of the First World War. Then Russian culture and film industry suffered from a cascade of troubles and destructions caused by several Russian Revolutions. However, by 1917 several major Russian film studios became established in Yalta, Crimea, near the Tsar's palaces and lush villas of other major patrons, where social environment of an upscale resort with a Mediterranean climate provided special conditions conducive for filming all year round. Bauer moved to Yalta and continued his work at the newly established Khanzhyonkov film studio, becoming also its major shareholder. There Bauer directed his last masterpiece, Za schastem (1917) (aka.. For happiness), passing the torch to his apprentice, Lev Kuleshov, who replaced the ailing Bauer in the role as painter Enrico, which Bauer wanted to play himself, but unfortunately he fell and broke his leg.
In spite of his illness, Bauer used a wheelchair, and began directing his last film, Korol Parizha (1917), which was initially designed as his largest project, but was ended as his last song. His broken leg and unexpected complications interrupted his work as he became bedridden in a Yalta hospital. The film was completed by actress Olga Rakhmanova and his colleagues at Khanzhyonkov studio. Yevgeni Bauer died of pneumonia on 22nd of July (9th of July, old style), 1917, in Yalta, Crimea, and was laid to rest in Yalta cemetery, Yalta, Crimea, Russia (now Yalta, Ukraine).
Bauer was married to actress and dancer Emma Bauer (nee Ancharova), whom he met in the 1890s during his stint as a theatre artist. In 1915 Lina Bauer starred as a flirtatious wife who hides her lover in a closet and successfully outwits her husband in Bauer's comedy The 1002nd Ruse (1915) (aka.. The 1002nd Ruse). Bauer's sister, Emma Bauer also starred in several of his films.- Actor
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Vsevolod Meyerhold was born Karl Theodor Kazimir Emil Meyerhold in 1874, in Penza, Russia, into the Russian-German family of Emil Meyerhold. He converted to Orthodox Christianity on his 21st birthday and took the name of Vsevolod in memory of the Russian writer Vsevolod Garshin. After conversion Meyerhold married Olga Mikhailovna (nee Munt) and the couple had three daughters. Vsevolod Meyerhold dropped out of Moscow University Law School to become an actor and director. He studied acting under Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko and worked for him at the Moscow Art Theater from 1898 to 1902.
Meyerhold moved to St. Petersburg, where he became the leading advocate of Symbolism. He introduced new experimental staging methods into classical plays. After a successful gig as a chief producer at the Vera Komissarzhevskaya theatre, he was invited to the Imperial Directorship of Thatres. Meyerhold worked for Imperial Theatres in 1907-1917, staging both plays and operas. He published a book on innovations in theatrical productions, titled "On Theatre" (1913), that also included his theory of 'conditional theatre'. His acting method was different from that of Stanislavsky's. Meyerhold focused on gestures, poses, and movements in expressing the outward emotions. He argued that physical feel and looks will automatically cause emotional expression. His casting approach was applied by the Russian film directors Sergei Eisenstein, Sergey Gerasimov, Mikhail Romm. For portrayal of the Bolshevik revolutionaries they would cast athletic and attractive actors, while the bourgeois capitalists were played by obese and unattractive actors. Actors from the Meyerhold's theatre were in demand by film directors.
Meyerhold accepted the Russian revolution and joined the Bolshevik Party. But he strongly opposed to Socialist realism and was against censorship and political control of art. His famous productions included "The Dead Souls" (1926) by Nikolay Gogol and "The Bedbug" (1929) by Vladimir Mayakovsky. In 1930s Joseph Stalin started the Great Terror of brutal repressions against intellectuals and experimental artists. Vladimir Mayakovsky was found dead of a gunshot wound. Meyerhold was proclaimed "alien to the Soviet people". He was arrested and imprisoned on false accusations. His theatre was closed down in 1938 and actors became unemployed. His wife, actress Zinaida Raikh was mysteriously murdered in their Moscow apartment in 1939. His neighbors Vitali Golovin and Dmitri Golovin were exiled to Siberian prison-camps. His friends Sergei Prokofiev, Aram Khachaturyan, Anna Akhmatova and many others were banned from publications and performances.
Meyerhold was executed by the firing squad in February of 1940 (the exact date of his death is still unclear). He was rehabilitated posthumously by the Soviet government order that cleared him of all charges, 15 years after his execution.- Director
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Dimitri Buchowetzki was born in 1885 in Russia. He was a director and writer, known for Valencia (1926), Danton (1921) and The Swan (1925). He died in 1932 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Director
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Alexandre Volkoff was born on 27 December 1885 in Moscow, Russian Empire [now Russia]. He was a director and writer, known for Amore imperiale (1941), Kean (1924) and La maison du mystère (1923). He died on 22 May 1942 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.- Director
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The son of an affluent architect, Eisenstein attended the Institute of Civil Engineering in Petrograd as a young man. With the fall of the tsar in 1917, he worked as an engineer for the Red Army. In the following years, Eisenstein joined up with the Moscow Proletkult Theater as a set designer and then director. The Proletkult's director, Vsevolod Meyerhold, became a big influence on Eisenstein, introducing him to the concept of biomechanics, or conditioned spontaneity. Eisenstein furthered Meyerhold's theory with his own "montage of attractions"--a sequence of pictures whose total emotion effect is greater than the sum of its parts. He later theorized that this style of editing worked in a similar fashion to Marx's dialectic. Though Eisenstein wanted to make films for the common man, his intense use of symbolism and metaphor in what he called "intellectual montage" sometimes lost his audience. Though he made only seven films in his career, he and his theoretical writings demonstrated how film could move beyond its nineteenth-century predecessor--Victorian theatre-- to create abstract concepts with concrete images.- Director
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A pioneer of cinema in Armenia and the Caucasus, Amo Bek-Nazaryan began his career as a professional athlete. However, he later discovered film, joined the cinema as an actor in 1914, and soon became one of the major stars in the pre-Soviet Russian cinema. In 1918, he graduated from the Moscow Commercial Institute. In 1921, he became the head of the film section of Narkompros in Georgia and later a director of Goskinprom in Georgia. Like his friend and colleague, the Georgian cinema pioneer Ivane Perestiani, Bek-Nazaryan sought to incorporate avant-garde techniques popular in NEP-era Soviet films into conventional narrative frameworks.
In 1924, he returned to his native city of Yerevan where he became one of the founders of Armenkino (the predecessor to Armenfilm). He directed the first full-length Armenian feature film, Honor (1925), in collaboration with Sakhkinmretsvi in Georgia. He also directed the romantic film Natela (1926) with the glamorous Nato Vachnadze that same year and, the following year, he directed the first Kurdish film, Zare (1927). In the 1930s, he directed the first Armenian sound film, Pepo (1935), based on a play by Gabriel Sundukyan and with music by the renown Armenian composer Aram Khachaturyan. For this production, he earned the title People's Artist of the Armenian SSR.
Following World War II, he directed the film Erkrord karavan (1950) about the repatriation of Armenians living in the United States to Soviet Armenia. This production was canceled by Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, a move that personally hurt Bek-Nazaryan. Following this, he did not direct any more films until after the death of Stalin in 1953. After Bek-Nazaryan's death in 1965, Armenfilm adopted his name to their full, official title in his honor. Today, he is widely regarded as the founder of Armenian cinema.- Director
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Lev Kuleshov was a Russian director who used the editing technique known as the "Kuleshov effect." Although some of the editing innovations, such as crosscutting were used by other directors before him, Kuleshov was the first to use it in the Soviet Russia. he was driving a Ford sports car amidst hard situation in the post-Civil war USSR, and remained a controversial figure who joined the Soviet communist party and destroyed archives of rare silent movies during his experiments, thus clearing way for his own works: documentaries and feature films ranging from political cinema to timeless gems.
He was born Lev Vladimirovich Kuleshov on 1 January, 1899, in Tambov, Russia. His father, Vladimir Kuleshov, belonged to Russian landed gentry, was a patron of arts and owner of a private estate in Central Russia. His mother, Pelagea Shubina, was a teacher before she married his father. His parents understood his weaknesses (poor speaking ability and bouts of depression) and strengths (a sharp eye, persistence and determination). His forte was the ability to see what for others remained unseen. Young Kuleshov received exclusive private education at the home of his father who had a degree from Moscow Art College. After the death of his father, 15-year-old Kuleshov and his mother moved to Moscow. There he studied art and history at the prestigious Stroganov School, then continued his studies at Moscow School of Painting, Architecture and Sculpture focusing on oil painting.
In 1916 he started his film career as a set designer at the Moscow film studio of Aleksandr Khanzhonkov and occasionally acted in some of its productions. He played a young lover opposite Emma Bauer, a stunning beauty, whom he truly fell in love with even before the filming started. That was the silent film Za schastem (1917). Watching himself on the silver screen, young Kuleshov was disappointed with the comic effect of his acting conflicting with naturalism of his true feelings. He decided to focus on directing and developing the style of his own. His new friend, experienced film-maker Akhramovich-Ashmarin, introduced him to American school of film-making, which also influenced his work.
With the help from Khanzhonkov's leading cinematographer, Yevgeny Bauer, Kuleshov made his first experimental works in editing. In 1917, he made his first publication in 'Vestnik Kinematografii': in three consecutive articles Kuleshov trashed the "salon" traditions of his employer by writing about an artist's role in converting film industry into a new form of art. His directorial career began under the patronage of Bauer, with whom Kuleshov worked as art director on such films, as Nabat (1917) and Za schastem (1917), and completed the latter as director after the original director Bauer died. In 1918, Kuleshov made his directorial debut with 'Project of Engineer Prite', and the film brought him attention of film studio executives who gave the 19-year-old beginner a chance to participate in documenting the early history of the Civil War-era Russia.
Following the Russian revolution of 1917, Kuleshov joined the Bolsheviks and sided with the Red Army in the Russian Civil War of 1918-1919, which was a continuation of the First World War. He covered the war on the Eastern front with a documentary crew. After the end of the Civil War, the Communist Party solidified control of the country, thus helping Kuleshov's career. His friend, Vladimir Gardin, appointed him instructor at the Moscow Film School. There he made a career as director and teacher. In 1920, he directed a war film Na krasnom fronte (1920), a government sponsored film about the Red Army. For some time Kuleshov continued wearing the Red Army uniform, to show his loyalty to the new government.
He studied the techniques of Hollywood directors, particularly D.W. Griffith and Mack Sennett and introduced such innovations as crosscutting in editing and montage into Russian cinema. For his experiments Kuleshov was cutting old silent films from the archives of Khanzhonkov, Bauer and other private studios nationalized by the socialist govenment. Kuleshov used the archives of old silent movies for his own cutting experiments and thus most of the film archives was destroyed. Kuleshov remained quiet about this part of his career when he experimented with editing technique. He focused on putting two shots together to achieve a new meaning.
The "Kuleshov effect" is using the Pavlovian physiology to manipulate the impression made by an image and thus to spin the viewer's perception of that image. To demonstrate such manipulation, Kuleshov took a shot of popular Russian actor Ivan Mozzhukhin's expressionless face from an early silent film. He then edited the face together with three different endings: a plate of soup, a seductive woman, a dead child in a coffin. The audiences believed that Ivan Mozzhukhin acted differently looking at the food, the girl, or the coffin, showing an expression of hunger, desire, or grief respectively. Actually the face of Ivan Mozzhukhin in all three cases was one and the same shot repeated over and over again. Viewers own emotional reactions become involved in manipulation. Images spin those who are prone to be spun. Although editing and montage have already been used in art, architecture, fashion, politics, book publishing, theatrical productions and religious events (just look at placement of icons in churches, or photos in books, or pictures at exhibitions), the use of such editing in silent films was innovative and eventually led to more advanced visual effects.
Vsevolod Pudovkin, who claimed to have been the co-creator of Kuleshov's experiment, later described how the audience "raved about the acting... the heavy pensiveness of Ivan Mozzhukhin's mood over the soup, the deep sorrow with which he looked on the dead child, and the lust with which he observed the woman. But we knew that in all three cases the face was exactly the same." Kuleshov demonstrated the effect of editing that was successfully used in montage of such films, as Battleship Potemkin (1925) and Konets Sankt-Peterburga (1927) among other Soviet films. Kuleshov's good education, as well as his connections among Russian intellectual elite also helped his career.
At that time, Kuleshov and a group of his students, among them actress Aleksandra Khokhlova, collaborated on several movies that are now generally regarded as seminal films in Russian cinema. Among them are The Extraordinary Adventures of Mr. West in the Land of the Bolsheviks (1924), a satire on clash of civilizations showing naive American Christian pastor who comes to Russia just to be robbed twice, but then helped by exemplary Soviet policeman. In 1926 he produced his most popular film, By the Law (1926), based on a Jack London story. The movie was successful in Russia and especially in Europe. In 1933, he directed The Great Consoler (1933), based on biography of American writer O. Henry. The film was highly praised by Osip Brik and Lilya Brik. It was an interesting advancement in Kuleshov's experimental style.
In 1936, he received his Ph.D and became professor of directing and Moscow Film School. In 1941, Kuleshov's book 'Osnovy kinorezhissury' (aka... Fundamentals of Film Direction) was published in Moscow. Kuleshov was promoted to high position within the Soviet film industry and was designated Doctor of Science for the book, which was translated in several languages and became regarded among filmmakers worldwide.
During WWII, Kuleshov made two films. One, made in collaboration with writer Arkadiy Gaydar, was Klyatva Timura (1942). To complete the film, Kuleshov with his film crew was moved on Soviet government expense from cold Moscow to warm Stalinabad, the capital of Turkmenistan. There, in 1943, together with his wife, Aleksandra Khokhlova, he directed his last movie, We from the Urals (1944), a film about young Soviet boys making heroic efforts in the Eastern Front of WWII. After that, he returned from Central Asia back to Moscow. The Soviet capital was recovering after attacks of Nazi armies. For his contribution to art, and also for his dedication to communist ideas, a prestigious position as Artistic Director of the Moscow Film Institute (VGIK) where he worked for the next 25 years. Over the course of his career, his students were hundreds of Soviet filmmakers, such as directors Vsevolod Pudovkin, Boris Barnet, Mikhail Kalatozov and many others. His most trusted and devoted friend was Sergei Eisenstein.
Kuleshov visited Paris and presented a retrospective of his films in 1962. There he enjoyed much attention from international media. His friends in the Western world included many celebrities, such as Yves Montand, Louis Aragon, Elsa Triolet among others. Kuleshov was member of the Jury at 1966 Venice Film Festival and attended other film festivals as a special guest. He made several exclusive trips outside of the Soviet Union.Kuleshov was a friend of the State security chief, KGB General V.N. Merkulov.
Kuleshov was awarded Order of Lenin, Order of Red Banner, was designated People's Artist of Russia (1969), and received other decorations and perks from the Soviet government.
Outside of his film career, Lev Kuleshov was fond of hunting, he owned a collection of exclusive hunting guns and often used them to kill game outside of Moscow and in Southern Russia. He also spent much time at Mediterranean resort near Yalta in Crimea and often made hunting trips in that area. Kuleshov was married to his student Aleksandra Khokhlova, and lived with his wife in a prestigious block on Lenin Prospect in central Moscow. There he died in 1970, and was laid to rest in Moscow's most prestigious Novodevichy Cemetery. Kuleshov's funeral took place while the Soviet Union was celebrating the centennial anniversary of the former leader Vladimir Lenin.- Director
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Viktor Tourjansky was a Russian film director who emigrated after the communist revolution of 1917, and worked in France, Germany, USA, UK, and Italy.
He was born Viacheslav Konstantinovich Turzhanski on March 4, 1891, in Kiev, Ukraine, Russian Empire (now Kiyiv, Ukraine). Studied painting and art history. In 1911 he moved to Moscow and studied acting under Konstantin Stanislavski and Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko. In 1912-1914, Tourjansky worked for Aleksandr Khanzhonkov. He made his film debut as an actor in 'Tragedia pereproizvodstva' (1912), and co-starred in 'Brothers' (1913) by director Pyotr Chardynin, and in several other silent films. From 1914-1919 he worked in Yalta for Joseph N. Ermolieff, owner of one of the most successful Russian silent-film companies. At that time Tourjansky directed over twenty silent films in Russia.
Tourjansky suffered terribly from the loss of his property after the Communist Revolution of 1917. However, he continued working in Yalta with Ermolieff until the end of 1919. But when the Red Army advanced in Crimea and reached Yalta, he joined the White Russians and fled the communist Russia at the end of the Civil War. Tourjansky managed to save a few rolls of his silent films, which he took aboard the Greek steamer "Pantera" in February of 1920. He left Russia together with his film partners from the Ermolieff film company, actors Ivan Mozzhukhin, Nicolas Koline and Nicolas Rimsky, actress Nathalie Lissenko, his wife Nathalie Kovanko, cinematographer Nikolai Toporkoff and producer Joseph N. Ermolieff. They emigrated together to Paris, France, and started a Russian-French film company.
In Paris, Tourjansky changed his first name to Viktor (Victor) and continued his collaboration with Russian producers Alexandre Kamenka and Joseph N. Ermolieff. During 1920s and 1930s he also collaborated with producer Gregor Rabinovitch and directed films for various French, British, and German studios. Tourjansky often filmed his wife, Russian actress Nathalie Kovanko. She starred in fourteen of his films made in Russia and Europe. Eventually Tourjansky separated from Nathalie Kovanko, and later she returned to the Soviet Union.
Bethween WWI and WWII, Tourjansky directed over thirty French, British, American, and Franco-German films. He collaborated with director Abel Gance on the innovative film Napoleon (1927). In 1927 Tourjansky came to Hollywood. There, from 1927 - 1930, he worked at the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios where he re-united with his former teacher, Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko, who visited from Russia. Tourjansky was co-director of the Academy Award-winning film Tempest (1928), albeit he was uncredited. In Hollywood Tourjansky was hired to direct After Midnight (1927), but he questioned the talent of Norma Shearer, mentioning that the "Queen of MGM" had a cross-eyed stare, without knowing that she was about to marry Irving Thalberg, the powerful MGM producer. Tourjansky was fired from the project, and was sent to co-direct a western, The Adventurer (1927), on location in the inhospitable Mohave Desert. After he suffered for several weeks working in the sandy, windy, and hot desert, and dealing with nerve-wrecking logistical problems, Tourjansky did not achieve the result he wanted for the film. He became disillusioned and dissatisfied, and never wanted to direct another Hollywood film.
Back in Paris, Tourjansky opened his own office and re-established himself among the French-Russian film community. He was tirelessly wooing investors for his new projects, networking among intellectuals and businessmen of all backgrounds, including famous Russian émigrés in Paris, such as Aleksandr Kuprin and Yevgeni Zamyatin, as well as French, German, and British producers. Eventually his persistence and determination produced successful results. In 1931, Tourjansky spotted then unknown 21-year-old Simone Simon on the terrace of the Café de la Paix. He made her a famous actress after their first film together, The Unknown Singer (1931) (The Unknown Singer 1931). Tourjansky and Simon worked together again in Les yeux noirs (1935).
In 1936 he was hired by UFA-Film and moved to Potsdam-Babelsberg, then to Munich, Bavaria. There he worked for the rest of his life as film director and producer. Tourjansky made success with The Blue Fox (1938) (The Blue Fox 1938), a comedy starring Swedish actress Zarah Leander, who was rumoured to be a Soviet-controlled agent and a mistress of Adolf Hitler. Tourjansky himself had several personal meetings with the Reichskanzler during the late 1930s, and was summoned to make several propaganda films, such as Enemies (1940). As a consequence his reputation among the cosmopolitan film community had suffered.
After the Second World War, he lived in Munich, and worked for various film studios with various results. His last film made in the Nazi Germany, a criminal drama Orient-Express (1944), was released after the war. In 1950, he directed Der Mann, der zweimal leben wollte (1950) (The Man Who Wanted to Live Twice 1950), a film starring the famous Russian émigré actress Olga Tschechowa. Later Tourjansky directed period epic films, such as Herod the Great (1959), Prisoner of the Volga (1959), The Cossacks (1960), and The Pharaohs' Woman (1960), some of which were considered among his better works. During the 1950s and 1960s he was wintering in Italy and worked there as producer and writer under the artistic name Arnaldo Genoino. Viktor Tourjansky died on August 13, 1976, in Munich, Germany.- Director
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Mikhail Doller was born in 1889 in Vilna, Russian Empire [now Vilnius, Lithuania]. He was a director and actor, known for Minin i Pozharskiy (1939), General Suvorov (1941) and Salamander (1928). He died on 15 March 1952 in Moscow, RSFSR, USSR [now Russia].- Director
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Abram Room was born on 28 June 1894 in Vilna, Russian Empire [now Vilnius, Lithuania]. He was a director and writer, known for Nashestvie (1945), Sud chesti (1949) and Belated Flowers (1970). He died on 26 July 1976 in Moscow, Russian SFSR, USSR [now Russia].- Director
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Vsevolod Pudovkin was born on 28 February 1893 in Penza, Russian Empire [now Russia]. He was a director and actor, known for Admiral Nakhimov (1947), Zhukovsky (1950) and Minin i Pozharskiy (1939). He was married to Anna Zemtsova. He died on 30 June 1953 in Jurmala, Latvian SSR, USSR [now Latvia].- Director
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Grigori Aleksandrov was a Soviet-Russian filmmaker best known as director of Volga - Volga (1938), The Circus (1936), and October (Ten Days that Shook the World) (1927), as well as co-star in Battleship Potemkin (1925) by director Sergei Eisenstein.
He was born Grigori Vasilyevich Mormonenko on January 23, 1903 in Ekaterinburg, Russia. His father, Vasili Mormonenko, was a worker. Young Aleksandrov was obsessed with acting and movies. At the age of 9 he was hired as a delivery boy at the Ekaterinburg Opera; there he eventually worked as an assistant dresser, electrician, decorator, and assistant director. He studied violin and piano at the Ekaterinburg School of Music, graduating in 1917. During the Russian Civil War of 1917-1920, he was road manager with the Theatre of Eastern Front of the Red Army. After the Civil War he graduated from the Directors Courses for Proletariat Theatre in Ekaterinburg, and was appointed Inspector of Arts at the Ekaterinburg Regional Administration. His job was to supervise theaters and to select films in compliance with the new ideology.
Aleksandrov met Eisenstein in 1921. They worked together on several stage productions in 1921-24. In 1923 Aleksandrov appeared as Glumov in a stage production of A. Ostrovsky's play at the Moscow Proletkult Theatre, directed by Eisenstein. They worked together on the scenario of their first films: 'Stachka' (1924) and 'Bronenosets Potemkin' (1925). They wrote and directed 'Oktyabr' (1927), a historical film made to look like a documentary about the Russian revolution. In 1929-1933 both Aleksandrov and Eisenstein were sent to study and work in Hollywood. Back in the Soviet Union Aleksandrov made a short documentary film titled 'International' (1932).
In 1933 Aleksandrov had a meeting with Joseph Stalin and Maxim Gorky at the Gorky's State Dacha near Moscow. Stalin offered the oportunity to Aleksandrov to make a musical comedy for the Soviet people. 'Veselye Rebyata' (aka.. Jolly fellows) was completed in 1934, starring Leonid Utyosov and Lyubov Orlova. 'Veselye Rebyata' became the #1 box office hit in Russia and was awarded at the Venice Film Festival. Leonid Utyosov and Lyubov Orlova became instant celebrities, and songs by composer Isaak Dunaevskiy became popular hits in the Soviet Union.
Aleksandrov directed and edited the documentary of Stalin's speech about the Soviet constitution, titled 'Doklad tov. Stalina o proekte Konstitutsii SSSR na VIII Chresvychaynom S'ezde Sovetov' (1937). After that Aleksandrov returned to making comedies. Aleksandrov's wife, Lyubov Orlova, starred in almost all of his feature films, such as 'Tsirk' (1936), 'Volga-Volga' (1938), 'Svetly Put' (1940), 'Vesna' (1947) among his other films. His 1930s comedies remained rather popular among several generations of viewers in the Soviet Union, as well as internationally. In 1942 Joseph Stalin sent a copy of Volga - Volga (1938) to American president Franklin D. Roosevelt.
However, Aleksandrov's success came at a painful price, as he suffered from many attacks by some less fortunate and envious filmmakers, as well as from blackmailing by invisible and anonymous enemy. In 1938 Aleksandrov's colleagues, cinematographer Vladimir Nilsen, and producer Boris Shumyatskiy, were executed by the firing squad for anti-government activities. At the same time both Aleksandrov and Orlova were falsely accused of spying for the Nazi Germany, but were cleared of all charges.
During the 1950s he taught directing at State Institute of Cinematography (VGIK). His last films had little success, and some, like 'Skvorets i lira' (1973) were not even released in theaters. Aleksandrov also made a few documentaries, including one about Lenin, and one about his wife, star actress Lyubov Orlova.
Grigori Aleksandrov received the Stalin's Prize twice (1941, 1950), the Order of Lenin twice (1939, 1950), the Order of Red Star (1938), and the Order of the Red Banner twice (1963, 1967). He was designated People's Actor of the USSR. Grigori Aleksandrov died of kidney infection on December 16, 1983, at the Kremlin Hospital in Moscow, and was laid to rest next to his wife, Lyubov Orlova in Novodevichy Cemetery, Moscow, Russia.- Director
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Dziga Vertov was born on 2 January 1896 in Bialystok, Grodno Governorate, Russian Empire [now Podlaskie, Poland]. He was a director and writer, known for Man with a Movie Camera (1929), Three Songs About Lenin (1934) and The Sixth Part of the World (1926). He was married to Elizaveta Svilova. He died on 12 February 1954 in Moscow, RSFSR, USSR [now Russia].- Director
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Fridrikh Ermler was born on 13 May 1898 in Rechitsa, Vitebsk Governorate, Russian Empire [now Rezekne, Latvia]. He was a director and writer, known for The Great Force (1951), Great Citizen (1938) and The Turning Point (1945). He died on 12 July 1967 in Leningrad, USSR [now St. Petersburg, Russia].- Writer
- Director
- Editor
Aleksandr Dovzhenko was born on 10 September 1894 in Vyunishche, Sosnitsa Ueyzd, Chernigov Governorate, Russian Empire [now Sosnitsa, Sosnitsa Raion, Chernihiv Oblast, Ukraine]. He was a writer and director, known for Earth (1930), Shors (1939) and Life in Bloom (1949). He was married to Yuliya Solntseva. He died on 25 November 1956 in Moscow, Russian SFSR, USSR [now Russia].- Director
- Actor
- Writer
Boris Barnet was born on 18 June 1902 in Moscow, Russian Empire [now Russia]. He was a director and actor, known for The Adventures of the Three Reporters (1926), Secret Agent (1947) and Okraina (1933). He was married to Yelena Kuzmina, Natalia Glan, Alla Kazanskaya and Valentina Barnet. He died on 8 January 1965 in Riga, Latvian SSR, USSR [now Latvia].- Director
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- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Amasi Martirosyan was born on 18 April 1897 in Erivan, Russian Empire [now Yerevan, Armenia]. He was a director and actor, known for Gikor (1934), Vsegda gotov (1930) and Kaj Nazar (1940). He died on 21 December 1971 in Yerevan, USSR [now Armenia].- Director
- Writer
- Actor
Georgi Vasilyev was born on 25 November 1899 in Vologda, Russian Empire [now Russia]. He was a director and writer, known for Chapaev (1934), Fortress on the Volga (1942) and Spyashchaya krasavitsa (1930). He died on 18 June 1946 in Ljubljana, Yugoslavia [now Slovenia].- Director
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Sergey Vasilev was born on 4 November 1900 in Moscow, Russian Empire [now Russia]. He was a director and writer, known for Chapaev (1934), Fortress on the Volga (1942) and Heroes of Shipka (1955). He died on 16 December 1959 in Moscow, RSFSR, USSR [now Russia].- Director
- Writer
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Aleksandr Medvedkin was born on 24 February 1900 in Penza, Russian Empire [now Russia]. He was a director and writer, known for The New Moscow (1938), Happiness (1935) and Chudesnitsa (1937). He died on 20 February 1989 in Moscow, RSFSR, USSR [now Russia].- Director
- Writer
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Vladimir Petrov was born on 22 July 1896 in St. Petersburg, Russian Empire [now Russia]. He was a director and writer, known for Peter the First (1937), Bez viny vinovatye (1945) and Conquest of Peter the Great (1938). He died on 7 January 1966 in Moscow, RSFSR, USSR [now Russia].- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Mark Donskoy was born on 6 March 1901 in Odessa, Kherson Governorate, Russian Empire [now Ukraine]. He was a director and writer, known for Gorky 1: The Childhood of Maxim Gorky (1938), Foma Gordeev (1959) and The Taras Family (1945). He died on 21 March 1981 in Moscow, RSFSR, USSR [now Russia].- Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Actor
Dmitriy Vasilev was born on 21 October 1900 in Yeysk, Kuban Oblast, Russian Empire [now Krasnodar Krai, Russia]. He was a director and assistant director, known for Zhukovsky (1950), Operatsiya 'Kobra' (1960) and Admiral Nakhimov (1947). He died on 5 January 1984 in Moscow, RSFSR, USSR [now Russia].- Writer
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Leonid Zakharovich Trauberg is Soviet film director and screenwriter. People's Artist of the RSFSR (1987). Leonid Trauberg was born in Odessa. After moving to Petrograd, the family settled in house number 7, apt. 4, along Kolomenskaya street.
In December 1921, together with Grigoriy Kozintsev and G. Kryzhitskiy, he wrote the "Eccentric Theater Manifesto," which was proclaimed at a debate organized by them. In 1922, Kozintsev and Trauberg organized the Theater Workshop "Factory of an Eccentric Actor", and in the same year they put in it an eccentric reworking of "Marriage" by Nikolay Gogol. For two years, they staged 3 more plays based on their own plays, and in 1924 they transferred their experiments in the field of eccentric comedy to cinema, transforming the theater workshop into the FEKS Film Workshop.
The first full-length film by Kozintsev and Trauberg - the romantic melodrama Chyortovo koleso (1926) according to the script of Adrian Piotrovsky - was already a mature work. Love for a bright eccentric was combined with a convincing display of urban life. This film has a permanent creative team; in addition to the directors, it included cameraman Andrey Moskvin and artist Yevgeni Yenej, who worked with Kozintsev in almost all of his films.
In 1926-1932, Leonid Trauberg taught at the Leningrad Institute of Performing Arts, in 1926-1927 he was the head of the film department of the Leningrad Theater Institute. In 1961-1965 he taught at the VKSR under the Goskino USSR.- Director
- Art Director
- Cinematographer
Roman Karmen was born on 29 November 1906 in Odessa, Kherson Governorate, Russian Empire [now Ukraine]. He was a director and art director, known for Grenada, Grenada, Grenada moya (1967), Nuremberg Trials (1946) and One Day in Soviet Russia (1941). He died on 28 April 1978 in Moscow, Russian SFSR, USSR [now Russia].- Director
- Writer
- Cinematographer
Mikhail Slutsky was born on 19 July 1907 in Kiev, Kiev Governorate, Russian Empire [now Kyiv, Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine]. He was a director and writer, known for Boyevoy kinosbornik 5 (1941), Kvitucha Ukraina (1950) and V odin prekrasnyy den (1956). He died on 23 June 1959 in Moscow, RSFSR, USSR [now Russia].- Director
- Writer
- Art Director
Leonid Lukov was born on 2 May 1909 in Mariupol, Yekaterinoslav Governorate, Russian Empire [now Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine]. He was a director and writer, known for Bolshaya zhizn (1939), Miners of the Don (1951) and Uz jauno krastu (1955). He died on 24 April 1963 in Leningrad, RSFSR, USSR [now St. Petersburg, Russia].- Director
- Writer
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Yuli Raizman was born on 15 December 1903 in Riga, Russian Empire [now Latvia]. He was a director and writer, known for The Last Night (1937), Dream of a Cossack (1951) and The Fall of Berlin (1945). He died on 11 December 1994 in Moscow, Russia.- Director
- Special Effects
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Aleksandr Ptushko was born on 19 April 1900 in Lugansk, Lugansk uyezd, Yekaterinoslav Governorate, Russian Empire [now Luhansk, Luhansk Oblast, Ukraine]. He was a director and writer, known for The Stone Flower (1946), Sadko (1953) and Ruslan i Lyudmila (1972). He died on 6 March 1973 in Moscow, Russian SFSR, USSR [now Russia].- Director
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- Actor
Sergei Gerasimov was born in the village of Kundravy in Urals area of the Russian Empire, in 1906. He studied at the Leningrad College of Arts and graduated from the Actors Department of the Leningrad Institute for Stage Arts in 1928. He started his film career in 1924 as an actor, continued as an assistant director and joined the "FEKS" film group, under the leadership of Grigoriy Kozintsev, Leonid Trauberg, and Sergei Yutkevich. He taught acting class at Lenfilm Studios, and employed his students in his film Seven Brave Men (1936), which became a success. His student Tamara Makarova became his wife and partner in film-works.
Sergei Gerasimov directed the 1945 Victory Parade on the Red Square in Moscow. His apprentice, Nikolai Rozantsev, became a reputable Russian director. His students Sergey Bondarchuk, Inna Makarova, Sergei Gurzo, Lyudmila Shagalova, Nonna Mordyukova, Vyacheslav Tikhonov became instant celebrities after the success of his film The Young Guard (1948). His most acclaimed work was the epic film Quiet Flows the Don (1957), based on the eponymous book by Mikhail Sholokhov. A crowning finale to his career was the biographical film Lev Tolstoy, in which Gerasimov starred as the famous Russian writer. The oldest film school in the world, VGIK, is named after Sergei Gerasimov.- Director
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Mikhail Edisherovich Chiaureli (Micheil Chiaureli) was born on February 6, 1894, in Tiflis, Russian Empire (now Tbilisi, Georgia). In 1916 he graduated from the School of Painting and Sculpture in Tbilisi. Young Chiaureli made his acting debut on stage as an amateur in 1910. In 1914 he married actress Veriko Anjaparidze, they had two sons and a daughter, named Sofiko Chiaureli. In 1920-1921 he took part in organizing the Revolutionary Theatre of Satire in Tbilisi. From 1922-1924 he lived in Germany and worked as a sculptor and continued his career as a sculptor and artist after his return to Tbilisi in 1924. From 1926-1928 he was an actor and director of Krasny Proletkult Theatre in Tbilisi. From 1928-1941 Chiaureli was Artistic Director of Georgian Theatre of Musical Comedy.
His film career began in 1921 with a leading role in the silent film 'Arsena Jorjiashvili' (1921). He continued playing leading and supporting roles in silent films during the 1920's. 1928 Chiaureli became a film director at Goskinprom studio (Sakhkinmretsvi, then renamed Tbilisi Kinostudia). His silent film 'Khabarda' (1931) became a popular comedy and won critical acclaim. Chiaureli made the first sound film in Georgia, 'Ukanaskneli Maskaradi' (The Last Masquerade 1934). He turned to historic films during the 1930's and 1940's under the dictatorship of Joseph Stalin. His political film 'Velikoe Zarevo' (They Wanted Peace 1938) was a typical Soviet propaganda film, for which Chiaureli received his first Stalin's Prize. Chiaureli made a two-part biopic about Georgian national hero Didi Mouravi (Great Mouravi) Giorgi Saakadze covering the history of the 16th and 17th century Georgia, and was awarded two Stalin's Prizes.
Joseph Stalin made Chiaureli his personal friend and a regular guest at private parties in Kremlin and at Stalin's Dacha near Moscow. Stalin used Chiaureli's talent to make films in the line of Soviet propaganda. Chiaureli had to serve the leader. He embellished the image of Stalin by using a tall and handsome actor Mikheil Gelovani in the role of Stalin. Stalin liked the embellishments and personally approved actor Mikheil Gelovani, who depicted Stalin in all Chiaureli's films. He depicted Stalin as an Almighty leader of great wisdom and limitless power in several propaganda films. However, he made a diligent effort as director of 'The Fall of Berlin' and 'The Battle of Berlin' (1949) and was awarded the Crystal Globe at Karlovy Vary, and was again awarded the Stalin's Prize in 1950.
After the death of Stalin, Chiaureli lost much of his clout in Moscow and fell out of favor with Nikita Khrushchev. Chiaureli was removed to Sverdlovsk and was placed at the Sverdlovsk Film Studio. There he was limited to low-budget films and had little or no success. He moved back to his hometown Tbilisi in 1957 and made several films starring his wife Veriko Anjaparidze and his daughter Sofiko Chiaureli. His last feature film was nostalgic and pholosophical 'Rats ginakhavs, vegar nakhav' (aka.. Inye nynche vremena or You Cannot See What I Had Seen. 1965). Chiaureli turned to animation during the last decade of his life. His sarcastic cartoon 'Rogor damarkhes tagvebna kata' (aka.. Kak myshi kota khoronili or "How mice buried the cat" 1969) was based on a satirical painting about the funeral of Tsar Peter the Great, alluding to politics around the death of Stalin. Micheil Chiaureli died on October 31, 1974, in Tbilisi, Georgia.- Director
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Mikhail Kalatozov was born on 28 December 1903 in Tiflis, Russian Empire [now Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia]. He was a director and cinematographer, known for The Cranes Are Flying (1957), True Friends (1954) and Zagovor obrechyonnykh (1950). He died on 27 March 1973 in Moscow, RSFSR, USSR [now Russia].- Director
- Actress
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Yuliya Solntseva was born on 7 August 1901 in Moscow, Russian Empire [now Russia]. She was a director and actress, known for Chronicle of Flaming Years (1961), Aelita, the Queen of Mars (1924) and Poem of the Sea (1958). She was married to Aleksandr Dovzhenko. She died on 29 October 1989 in Moscow, Russian SFSR, USSR [now Russia].- Director
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Studied at the Moscow Cinema Institute under Soviet film master Mikhail Romm. He found fame after his 1959 film "Ballad of a Soldier" which is considered one of the best Soviet war films and which has played all over the world.- Director
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Iosif Kheifits was born on 4 December 1905 in Minsk, Russian Empire [now Belarus]. He was a director and writer, known for Baltic Deputy (1937), The Lady with the Dog (1960) and The Rumyantsev Case (1956). He was married to Yanina Zheymo. He died on 24 April 1995 in St. Petersburg, Russia.- Director
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The distinguished film director Anatole Litvak was born in the Ukrainian city of Kiev, the son of Jewish parents. His very first job was as a stage hand. In 1915, he became an actor, performing at a little-known experimental theater in St. Petersburg, Russia. As a teenager, he witnessed the 1917 Russian Revolution and the consequent nationalization of all theaters and drama schools. It was at this time Litvak decided to quit the stage and join the burgeoning Soviet film industry. He was given a job at the Leningrad Nordkino studio as a set designer, but, before long, he worked his way up to directing short features, notably Tatiana (1925), a film about children.
In 1925, he left the Soviet Union for Berlin and was hired by the renowned director Georg Wilhelm Pabst to edit The Joyless Street (1925) starring Greta Garbo. He then began directing numerous short films for Ufa, and, eventually, moved on to full-length features. The most important of these was the romantic comedy Dolly macht Karriere (1930). Litvak's stay in Germany was cut short by the rise to power of Adolf Hitler. Litvak moved to France, and directed Mayerling (1936), starring Charles Boyer and Danielle Darrieux. This production was the turning point in Litvak's career, being a major hit on both sides of the Atlantic. He received effusive praise from critic Frank S. Nugent of the New York Times, who commented on the director's "superb assembling of scenes" and the "matchless performances" of the stars (September 14,1937). Hollywood soon beckoned, and, from 1937 to 1941, Litvak became a contract director for Warner Brothers. His first film was The Woman I Love (1937), which starred his future wife Miriam Hopkins. His experience with diverse aspects of stagecraft, as well as his fluency in four languages (Russian, German, French and English), enabled him to competently tackle a wide variety of subjects: from sophisticated continental comedy (Tovarich (1937)) to historical drama (Anastasia (1956)) and romance (All This, and Heaven Too (1940)).
Litvak was at his best directing taut, suspenseful crime dramas, such as The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse (1938) with Edward G. Robinson and Humphrey Bogart, hailed by Variety as "an unquestionable winner"; and two tough action films starring John Garfield: Castle on the Hudson (1940) and Out of the Fog (1941). Having become an American citizen in 1940, Litvak enlisted in the US army and collaborated with Frank Capra on the wartime "Why we Fight" series of documentaries. At war's end he left the army with the rank of colonel and returned to Hollywood to direct the classic thriller Sorry, Wrong Number (1948) with Barbara Stanwyck. Arguably his best film was the superb psychological drama The Snake Pit (1948), Hollywood's first attempt to seriously examine the treatment of mental illness. Indeed, the film was so influential that it precipitated changes in the American mental health system. Litvak was nominated for an Academy Award as Best Director, but lost out to John Huston for The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948).
In 1949, the director -- who had once described Hollywood as a "Mecca" -- returned to Europe and settled in Paris, working only infrequently. He undertook several projects under contract to 20th Century Fox (in 1951, and from 1955 to 1956). Notable among his later efforts are two contrasting films with Ingrid Bergman: the lavishly produced Anastasia (1956), about a woman claiming to be the Romanoff dynasty's last living direct descendant; and the moody, introspective romantic drama Goodbye Again (1961), shot on location in Paris. In stark thematic contrast to these, he also directed the suspenseful wartime thriller The Night of the Generals (1967), starring Peter O'Toole.
Anatole Litvak died in a hospital in Neuilly, Paris, in December 1974 at the age of 72.- Director
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Mikhail Romm was born in 1901, into a Russian-Jewish family, in the Siberian city of Irkutsk, Russia. He served in the Red Army in 1918-21 as an Inspector of the Special Forces for Food Supplies. He was in charge of confiscations of bread and food from the wealthier farmers (kulaks) in Central Russia. Romm later was avoiding any discussions regarding this painful memories, though he used his experience in the films about Lenin.
He graduated from the Moscow Institute of Arts and Technology as a sculptor (1925), where he studied under Anna Golubkina. Worked as a sculptor and interpreter. In 1928-30 he worked at Institute for extra-scholastic studies as researcher on the theory of Cinematography. From 1931 he worked at Mosfilm Studios, where he made his first film 'Pyshka' (1934). His next film '13' (1936) was considered the first Soviet "eastern" (a Soviet answer to "western"). During the years of "Great Terror" under Joseph Stalin Romm made two features and a documentary about Lenin.
His criminal drama 'Murder on the Dante Street' (1956) was the first film for the great Innokentiy Smoktunovskiy. After an eight-year brake Romm made his 'Nine Days in One Year' (1962). It was an excellent psychological drama about the life and death of nuclear physicists. After the political shifts during and after the "Thaw", started by Nikita Khrushchev, Romm devoted his talent to documentary material. He worked like a sculptor, cutting through the massive Nazi archives of documentaries in Germany. His work was rewarded with an astounding result - 'Tiumph over violence' (1965) in which he also was a narrator. His last film 'I vse-taki Ya Veryu' (1974) was finished by his disciples Marlen Khutsiev and Elem Klimov.- Director
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Grigori Mikhailovich Kozintsev was born on March 22, 1905, in Kiev, Russian Empire (now Kiev, Ukraine). His father, named Mikhail Kozintsev, was a medical doctor. Young Kozintsev studied at the Kiev Gymnazium. There, in 1919, he organized experimental theatre "Arlekin" together with his fellow students Sergei Yutkevich and Aleksei Kapler. During 1919 and 1920 Kozintsev studied art at the Kiev School of Art under the tutelage of Alexandra Exter.
Experiments. In 1920 Kozintsev moved to Petrograd (Leningrad or St. Petersburg). There he studied art at the "VKHUTEMAS" at the Academy of Fine Arts for two years. In 1921 Kozintsev with Sergei Yutkevich, Leonid Trauberg, and Leonid Kryzhitsky organized and led the Factory of Excentric Actors (FEKS). There Kozintsev directed radically avant-garde staging of plays "Zhenitba" (Marriage 1922) by Nikolay Gogol and "Vneshtorg na Eifelevoi Bashne" (Foreign trade on Eiffel Tower 1923). They were based in the former Eliseev Mansion on Gagarinskaya street No. 1 in St. Petersburg. Kozintsev and FEKS collaborated with writer Yuri Tynyanov, cinematographer Andrey Moskvin, young actor-director Sergey Gerasimov, artist Igor Vuskovich, and young composer Dmitri Shostakovich among others. Initially FEKS was the main platform for experimental actors, directors and artists, and was strongly influenced by Vsevolod Meyerhold and Vladimir Mayakovsky.
Artistic position. In 1924 Kozintsev and Trauberg came to "SevZapKino" Studios (now Lenfilm Studios). There Kozintsev continued his FEKS experiments in his first eccentric comedy 'Pokhozhdenie Oktyabriny' (1924). Kozintsev's early films were strongly criticized by official Soviet critics. His film 'Shinel' (1926) was compared to German Expressionism and accused of distortion of the original classic story by Nikolay Gogol. Kozintsev strongly argued against such comparisons with German expressionism; he was unhappy until the end of his life about such criticism of his early experimental works. Kozintsev insisted that his cheerful experiments were essential in the city of Petrograd (St. Petersburg) after the Russian Revolution of 1917, which brought destruction, depression, crime, and degradation of culture.
Early films. Kozintsev made twelve films together with Leonid Trauberg. Their collaboration began in 1921, in Petrograd (St. Petersburg). Their film-trilogy about Russian revolutionary hero Maxim was made from 1935-1941, when people in the Soviet Russia were terrorized under the most brutal dictatorship of Joseph Stalin. In departure from experimental youthfulness and freedom of their FEKS years, the Maxim trilogy was a trade-off blend of experiment and Soviet propaganda. It was still a powerful work and was even banned by censorship in the United States from the 1930s-1950s. For that work Kozintsev and Trauberg were awarded the Stalin's State Prize in 1941. After the Second World War Kozintsev and Trauberg made their last film together: 'Prostye Lyudi (Plain People 1946), which was censored and remained unreleased until 1958, when "Nikita Khrushchev' lifted the ban imposed by Stalin's censorship.
Highlights. Grigori Kozintsev ascended to his best works after the death of Stalin. Then Nikita Khrushchev initiated the "Thaw" which played a role in some liberation of individual creativity in the Soviet film industry. Kozintsev's adaptations of classical literature combined some experimental elements of his earlier silent films with the approach of a mature master. His Don Quixote (1957), King Lear (1969) and especially Hamlet (1963) were recognized worldwide as his highest achievements. In _Korol Lir (1969)_ Kozintsev made a brilliant decision to cast actors from the Baltic States as the Lear's family. Jüri Järvet, Regimantas Adomaitis, Donatas Banionis, Juozas Budraitis, and Elza Radzina together with Oleg Dal, Galina Volchek, Aleksey Petrenko made a powerful acting ensemble.
Hamlet and King Lear. Kozintsev first staged Shakespeare's "Hamlet" and 'King Lear" in 1941. His collaboration with Boris Pasternak began in 1940, when Pasternak was working on his Russian translation of the Shakespeare's originals. Both plays were prepared for stage under direction of Kozintsev. King Lear was staged in 1941, but further work was interrupted because of the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union. Hamlet was staged in 1954. At the same time Kozintsev continued developing the idea of filming _Gamlet (1964)_, until everything came together in his legendary film. The adaptation by Boris Pasternak, the music by Dmitri Shostakovich, the direction by Kozintsev, and the acting talent of Innokentiy Smoktunovskiy produced special creative synergy. Innokentiy Smoktunovskiy was praised as the best Hamlet by Sir Laurence Olivier.
Legacy. In the 1920s Kozintsev taught at the Leningrad School of Acting. From 1944-1964 Kozintsev led his master-class for film directors at the Soviet State Film Institute (VGIK). Among his students were many prominent Russian directors and actors such as Sergey Gerasimov and others. Kozintsev was the head of master-class for film directors at Lenfilm Studios from 1964-1971. He wrote essays on William Shakespeare, Sergei Eisenstein, Charles Chaplin, and Vsevolod Meyerhold and published theoretical works on film direction. Grigori Kozintsev lived near Lenfilm Stidios in Leningrad (St. Petersburg) for the most part of his life. His work and presence was essential to the status of Lenfilm Studios as well as to the film community in Leningrad during the political and economic domination of Moscow as the Soviet capital. From his early works of the 1920s to his masterpiece _Gamlet (1964)_, Kozintsev was faithful to creative experimental approach.
Kozintsev was designated the People's Artist of the USSR. He was awarded the State Lenin's Prize of the USSR (1965), and received other awards and nominations. He died in Leningrad (St. Petersburg) on May 11, 1973, and was laid to rest in the Necropolis of the Masters of Art in St. Aleksandr Nevsky Convent in St. Petersburg, Russia.- Director
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Rezo Chkheidze was born on 8 December 1926 in Kutaisi, Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic, USSR [now Imereti, Georgia]. He was a director and writer, known for Father of a Soldier (1964), Nergebi (1972) and Magdana's Donkey (1955). He died on 3 May 2015 in Tbilisi, Georgia.- Actor
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Sergei Bondarchuk was one of the most important Russian filmmakers, best known for directing an Academy Award-winning film epic War and Peace (1965), based on the book by Lev Tolstoy, in which he also starred as Pierre Bezukhov.
He was born Sergei Fedorovich Bondarchuk on September, 25, 1920, in the village of Belozerka, Kherson province, Ukraine, Russian Federation (now Belozerka, Ukraine). He was brought up in Southern Ukraine, then in Azov and Taganrog, Southern Russia. Young Bondarchuk was fond of theatre and books by such authors as Anton Chekhov and Lev Tolstoy. He made his stage debut in 1937, on the stage of the Chekhov Drama Theatre in the city of Taganrog, then studied acting at Rostov Theatrical School. In 1942 his studies were interrupted by the Nazi invasion during WWII. Bondarchuk was recruited in the Red Army and served for four years until he was discharged in 1946. From 1946 - 1948 he attended the State Institute of Cinematography in Moscow (VGIK), graduating as an actor from the class of Sergey Gerasimov. In 1948 he made his film debut in Povest o nastoyashchem cheloveke (1948) then co-starred in The Young Guard (1948).
For his portrayal of the title character in Taras Shevchenko (1951) he was awarded the State Stalin's Prize of the USSR, and was designated People's Artist of the USSR, becoming the youngest actor ever to receive such honor. Then he starred in the internationally renowned adaptation of the Shakespeare's Othello (1956), in the title role opposite Irina Skobtseva as Desdemona. Bondarchuk expressed his own experience as a soldier of WWII when he starred in The Destiny of a Man (1959), a war drama based on the eponymous story by Mikhail Sholokhov, which was also Bondarchuk's directorial debut that earned him the prestigious Lenin's Prize of the USSR in 1960.
Bondarchuk shot to international fame with War and Peace (1965), a powerful adaptation of the eponymous masterpiece by Lev Tolstoy. The 7-hour-long film epic won the 1969 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, and brought Bondarchuk a reputation of one of the finest directors of his generation. The most expensive project in film history, War and Peace (1965) was produced over seven years, from 1961 to 1968, at an estimated cost of $100,000,000 (over $800,000,000 adjusted for inflation in 2010). The film set several records, such as involving over three hundred professional actors from several countries and also tens of thousands extras from the Red Army in filming of the 3rd two-hour-long episode about the historic Battle of Borodino against the Napoleon's invasion, making it the largest battle scene ever filmed. Bondarchuk also made history by introducing several remote-controlled cameras that were moving on 300 meter long wires above the scene of the battlefield. Having earned international acclaim for War and Peace (1965), he starred in the epic The Battle of Neretva (1969) with fellow Russian, Yul Brynner, and Orson Welles, whom he would direct the following year.
By the late 1960s Bondarchuk was one of the most awarded actor and director in the Soviet Union. However, he was still not a member of the Soviet Communist Party, a fact that brought attention from the Soviet leadership under Leonid Brezhnev. Soon Bondarchuk received an official recommendation to join the Soviet Communist Party, an offer that nobody in the Soviet Union could refuse without risking a career. At that time he was humorously comparing his situation with the historic Hollywood trials of filmmakers during the 50s. Bondarchuk was able to avoid the Communist Party in his earlier career, but things changed in the Soviet Union under Brezhnev, so in 1970, he accepted the trade-off and joined the Soviet Communist Party for the sake of protecting his film career. In 1971 he was elected Chairman of the Union of Filmmakers, a semi-government post in the Soviet system of politically controlled culture. Eventually he evolved into a politically controlled figure and turned to making such politically charged films as Red Bells (1982) and other such films. Later, during the liberalization of the Soviet Union under Mikhail Gorbachev, Bondarchuk was seen as a symbol of conservatism in Soviet cinema, so in 1986 he was voted out of the office.
Bondarchuk was the first Russian director to make a big budget international co-production with the financial backing of Italian producer Dino De Laurentiis, such as Waterloo (1970), a Russian-Italian co-production vividly reconstructing the final battle of the Napoleonic Wars. This was his first English-language production, but several Soviet actors were cast, e.g. Sergo Zakariadze and Oleg Vidov. In this film, Orson Welles, his co-star in The Battle of Neretva (1969) made a cameo as the old King Louis XVII of France. But this time Bondarchuk was unable to control the advances of Rod Steiger, and the film was a commercial flop in Europe and America, albeit it gained the favor of critics.
After his dismissal from the office of Chairman of the Union of Cinematographers he started filming Tikhiy Don (2006) based on the eponymous novel by the Nobel Prize winner Mikhail Sholokhov, with Rupert Everett as the lead. At the end of filming, just before post-production, Bondarchuk learned about some unfavorable details in his contract, causing a bitter dispute with the producers over the rights to the film and bringing much pain to the last two years of his life. Amidst this legal battle the production was stopped and the film was stored in a bank vault, and remained unedited and undubbed for nearly fourteen years. The production was completed by Russian television company "First Channel", and aired in November 2006.
In his career that spanned over five decades, Sergei Bondarchuk had credits as actor, director, writer, and co-producer in a wide range of films. He suffered a heart attack and died on October 20, 1994, and was laid to rest in Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow, Russia, next to such Russian luminaries as Anton Chekhov and Mikhail A. Bulgakov. His death caused a considerable mourning in Russia. Bondarchuk was survived by his second wife, actress Irina Skobtseva and their children, actress Alyona Bondarchuk, and actor/director Fedor Bondarchuk, and actress Natalya Bondarchuk, his daughter with his first wife, actress Inna Makarova.
As a tribute to Sergei Bondarchuk, his son, Fedor Bondarchuk called him "a father and my teacher," and dedicated his directorial debut, 9th Company (2005), set in war-torn Afghanistan, whereas Sergei's directorial debut was set in WWII.- Director
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Marlen Khutsiev is a Soviet and Russian film director, screenwriter, actor, teacher. People's Artist of the USSR (1986), laureate of the State Prize of the Russian Federation (1993). Honorary Member of the Russian Academy of Arts.
Khutsiev studied at the 43rd Tbilisi Secondary School. In 1952 he graduated from the directing faculty of VGIK (workshop of Igor Savchenko). In 1953-1958 he worked as a director at the Odessa Film Studio, since 1959 - at the Studio of Gorkiy, since 1965 - at the film studio "Mosfilm". In a number of his films, Marlen Khutsiev appeared as an author or co-author of scripts. In addition, Khutsiev staged the play "The Case in Vichy" in the Sovremennik Theater (1967, 1986), and acted in several films. In the years 1968-1971 - Art Director of the "Screen" Central Television. From 1978 he led the workshop of directing art cinematography at VGIK. Since 1987 - head of the department of directing a feature film at VGIK, professor. Since 1989 - President of the Guild of Film Directors of Russia. In 1984, Khutsiev became one of the heroes of the documentary film "My Contemporaries" by Vladislav Vinogradov. In 1994-1995 - President of the film festival "Window to Europe".
In March 2019, Marlen Khutsiev was hospitalized at the Moscow Botkin Hospital, in the intensive care unit of which he died on March 19, at 7 am, in the 94th year of life.- Writer
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Vytautas Zalakevicius was a notable Lithuanian director, best known for his film Nobody Wanted to Die (1965).
He was born Vytautas Prano Zalakevicius on April 14, 1930, in Kaunas, Lithuania. From 1948-1950 he studied to become an engineer at the Kaunas State University. He then went to Moscow and studied directing at the Soviet State Institute of Cinematography (VGIK). His teachers were Mikheil Chiaureli and Grigoriy Aleksandrov. Zalakevivius was able to develop his own highly original style during the political changes in the Soviet Union after the death of Joseph Stalin. At that time many intellectuals expressed their new ideas, because Nikita Khrushchev initiated the policy of openness and de-Stalinization known as the Khrushchev's Thaw. Zalakevicius graduated from VGIK in 1956 as director, making his first short film 'Skenduolis' (Drowned 1956) as his graduation work.
His first independent full-length feature film was 'Adomas nori buti zmogumi' (Adam Wants to Be a Man 1959). It immediately became a sensation. Zalakevicius demonstrated his experimental approach as a writer-director and achieved an uncommon result. His work with such actors, as Donatas Banionis and Juozas Miltinis brought him his first big success. His best known film was 'Niekas nenorejo mirti' (Nobody Wanted to Die 1965) starring Donatas Banionis, Regimantas Adomaitis, Vija Artmane, Juozas Budraitis, Algimantas Masiulis and other Lithuanian actors. Zalakevicius made a powerful film, it was even dubbed the "Lithuanian Seven Samurai." It shows dramatic events in a small Lithuanian farming community, where people are split between the Soviets and the "brothers in the woods", who are fighting to defend their land from the Soviets after the end of the Second World War.
Zalakevicius was the winner of the 1973 Gold Prize at the Moscow International Film Festival for 'Eto sladkoe slovo: Svoboda!' (That Sweet Word: Liberty! 1973). But the film caused a mixed reaction, being just a mere political propaganda of the Chilean revolution. From 1974-1980, Zalakevicius worked at the Mosfilm Studios in Moscow. His Moscow period was less productive and he eventually returned to Lithuania. During the 1980s and 1990s, Zalakevicius was up to the challenges of the unstable and turbulent years during and after the collapse of the Soviet Union. His later career was devoted to establishing of the newly independent Lithuanian film industry. His last work was a screenplay for 'Elze's Life' (2000), a period film about the history of Lithuanian and German relationship, directed by his student, Algimantas Puipa. It was an artistic effort of reconciliation with the national identity, and partition from the Soviet past. Zalakevicius was one of the most provocative and controversial figures in the Lithuanian film. He usually wrote the screenplays for most of his films. He occasionally did television work as well.
Vytautas Zalakevicius was honored with titles of People's Artist of the Lithuanian Republic (1981) and People's Artist of Russia (1980). He was artistic Director of Lithuanian Film Studio, and Vice-Chairman of the Lithuanian State Committee for Cinematography. He also taught film directing in Moscow and in Vilnius, and several of his students became established filmmakers. Vytautas Zalakevicius was married to Russian actress Irina Miroshnichenko. He died of natural causes on November 12, 1996, in Vilnius, and was laid to rest in Vilnius, Luthuania.- Additional Crew
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The most famous Soviet film-maker since Sergei Eisenstein, Andrei Tarkovsky (the son of noted poet Arseniy Tarkovsky) studied music and Arabic in Moscow before enrolling in the Soviet film school VGIK. He shot to international attention with his first feature, Ivan's Childhood (1962), which won the top prize at the Venice Film Festival. This resulted in high expectations for his second feature Andrei Rublev (1966), which was banned by the Soviet authorities for two years. It was shown at the 1969 Cannes Film Festival at four o'clock in the morning on the last day, in order to prevent it from winning a prize - but it won one nonetheless, and was eventually distributed abroad partly to enable the authorities to save face. Solaris (1972), had an easier ride, being acclaimed by many in Europe and North America as the Soviet answer to Kubrick's '2001' (though Tarkovsky himself was never too fond of his own film nor Kubrick's), but he ran into official trouble again with Mirror (1975), a dense, personal web of autobiographical memories with a radically innovative plot structure. Stalker (1979) had to be completely reshot on a dramatically reduced budget after an accident in the laboratory destroyed the first version, and after Nostalghia (1983), shot in Italy (with official approval), Tarkovsky defected to Europe. His last film, The Sacrifice (1986) was shot in Sweden with many of Ingmar Bergman's regular collaborators, and won an almost unprecedented four prizes at the Cannes Film Festival. He died of lung cancer at the end of the year. Two years later link=Sergei Parajanov dedicated his film Ashik Kerib to Tarkovsky.- Director
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He has made been famous in the young soviet cinema by his films about Lenin (Lenin in Poland (1966) and others). He had a great international acclaim by his version of Othello (1956) and engaged to the Soviet cinema two French stars: Marina Vlady for Lika in Syuzhet dlya nebolshogo rasskaza (1969) and Claude Jade for Inessa in _Lenin v Parizhe (1980)_.- Director
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Aleksandr Zarkhi was born on 18 February 1908 in St. Petersburg, Russian Empire [now Russia]. He was a director and writer, known for Baltic Deputy (1937), Razgrom militaristkoy Japonii (1945) and Twenty Six Days from the Life of Dostoyevsky (1981). He died on 27 January 1997 in Moscow, Russia.- Director
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Arunas Zebriunas was born on 8 August 1931 in Kaunas, Lithuania. He was a director and writer, known for The Girl and the Echo (1964), Devil's Bride (1974) and Chas polnoluniya (1988). He was married to Giedre Kaukaite. He died on 9 September 2013 in Vilnius, Lithuania.- Director
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He graduated from the Directing Department of Yerevan Institute of Fine Arts and Theatre in 1951, then finished Special Director Courses at Moscow Theatre Institute. He worked as director at different Armenian theatres from 1951 to 1954. After 1954 he was one of the leading directors at Armenfilm Studios.- Director
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Otar Iosseliani was born on 2 February 1934 in Tiflis, Transcaucasian SFSR, USSR [now Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia]. He was a director and writer, known for La chasse aux papillons (1992), Winter Song (2015) and Et la lumière fut (1989). He died on 17 December 2023 in Tbilisi, Georgia.- Director
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Gleb Panfilov was born on 21 May 1934 in Magnitogorsk, Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russian SFSR, USSR [now Russia]. He was a director and writer, known for The Theme (1979), Vassa (1983) and Mat (1990). He was married to Inna Churikova. He died on 26 August 2023 in Russia.- Director
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Russian film director and screenwriter Alexander Mitta was born 28 March 1933 in Moscow. Alexander Mitta's career as film director and screenwriter spans from the 1960s until the 2010s.
He studied engineering in 1955, then worked as a cartoonist in art and magazines. In 1960 Mitta graduated at the film directing faculty of the VGIK.
Striving to expand the genre borders Mitta turned to the Western genre of catastrophe movie adapted to soviet reality. The experiment turned to be successful: millions of viewers saw the film Ekipazh (1980).
In 1983 he directed his landmark film The Story of the Voyages (1983) starring Andrey Mironov and Tatyana Aksyuta.
In 1991 he shot Soviet-British political drama Lost in Siberia (1991) starring Anthony Andrews. The film was nominated as the Best Foreign Language Film at the 49th Golden Globe Awards.
In 2013 he shot last film Chagall-Malevich (2014) about the world of Marc Chagall and his myth within the genre of a folklore ballad. His most famous movie of that time is the TV-Series Granitsa. Tayozhnyy roman (2000).- Writer
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Vasili Shukshin, one of Russian cinema's notable figures, was born Vasili Makarovich Shukshin into a peasant family on July 25, 1929, in the village of Srostki, Altai province, Siberian Russia. His father, named Makar Leontievich Shukshin, was a landlord who refused to join a collective farm and was arrested and executed in 1933. A that time Shukshin's mother, Maria Sergeevna, was 22, with two children, and she married another peasant who was soon drafted and was killed in WWII. Young Vasili Shukshin was raised by a single mother.
After WWII Shukshin studied to become a car mechanic, then served in the Navy in the Baltic Sea, then worked as a school teacher in Siberia, then went to study film directing in Moscow. He was accepted by director Mikhail Romm, who recognized Shukshin's natural talent. From 1954-1960 he studied acting and directing at Soviet State Institute of Cinematography (VGIK) in Moscow, and made his big screen debut as cameo in Quiet Flows the Don (1957) by director Sergey Gerasimov. During the 50s and 60s he starred in several popular films. Shukshin published his first short stories in 1958, during the "Thaw" that was initiated by Nikita Khrushchev. In 1964 he wrote and directed Zhivyot takoy paren (1964) and the film was critically acclaimed at XVI International Film Festival in Venice (1965). At that time Shukshin became a well-known party man in Moscow, he was romantically involved with popular poet Bella Akhmadulina. He later married actress Lidiya Fedoseeva-Shukshina, and the couple had two daughters.
In 1965 Shukshin started his new project, titled 'Stepan Razin', about the 17 century Cossac leader who led a major popular uprising against the Russian Tzar, and was brutally executed at the Red Square in Moscow. In 1967 the film 'Stepan Razin' was in development and Shukshin went on location at the Volga river where the historic uprising took place; but the Soviet authorities crashed the film for political reasons. Shukshin eventually had serious problems with alcohol and depression for several years. Only later, after the birth of his second daughter, he completely abstained from alcohol for the rest of his life. In 1969 he was designated Honorable Artist of Russia. In 1971 he was awarded the State Prize of the USSR for his outstanding acting in the leading role as Chernov in the popular film U ozera (1970) by director Sergey Gerasimov.
In 1973, Vasili Shukshin starred in what became his most popular film, Kalina krasnaya (1974), which he also wrote and directed, earning himself awards and fame. In 1974 Shukshin re-started his film project titled 'Stepan Razin' and also wrote a novel about Stepan Razin titled 'I came to let you free'. Shukshin was found dead on October 2, 1974, aboard the "Dunai" cruise-ship on the Volga river, near Kletskaya in Volgograd province, Russia. He was laid to rest in the Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow, Russia.
Shukshin's main novel 'I came to let you free' was published posthumously. His novels and short stories were translated in more than 30 languages and sold over 20 million copies across the world. A comprehensive artistic biography of Vasili Shukshin was written by Evgeni Vertlib, and published in New York, in 1990.- Cinematographer
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Mark Soosaar was born on 12 January 1946 in Viljandi, Estonian SSR, Soviet Union [now Estonia]. He is a cinematographer and director, known for Isa, poeg ja püha Toorum (1998), Jõulud Vigalas (1981) and Sadam udus (1987).- Director
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Larisa Shepitko was born on 6 January 1938 in Bakhmut, Ukrainian SSR, USSR [now Bakhmut, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine]. She was a director and writer, known for The Ascent (1977), Heat (1963) and You and Me (1971). She was married to Elem Klimov. She died on 2 July 1979 in near Redkino, Kalinin Oblast, Russian SFSR, USSR.- Cinematographer
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Peeter Tooming was born on 1 June 1939 in Rakvere, Estonia. Peeter was a cinematographer and director, known for Aastad (1977), Allika poole mineja (1979) and Kassilaane (1983). Peeter died on 17 May 1997 in Tallinn, Estonia.- Writer
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The Russian theatre and film director Andrei Konchalovsky is an elder brother of Nikita Mikhalkov, born August, 20, 1937. As a youngster he planned to pursue a career of a musician and learned to play piano but his love for cinema outweighed and he entered VGIK-the major state film school where he studied under Mikhail Romm. At VGIK he met Andrei Tarkovsky, they collaborated on Ivan's Childhood (1962) and Andrei Rublev (1966). For his feature debut The First Teacher (1965), he chose the book by Chingiz Aitmatov about the post-1917 Revolution period in the southern Russia. His next film Istoriya Asi Klyachinoy, kotoraya lyubila, da ne vyshla zamuzh (1966) although made in 1966 was not released until a decade later because it failed to comply with the strict requirements of the Russian censorship of the period. A Nest of Gentry (1969) - a study of the 19 c. aristocracy - was praised for its visual beauty but attacked by critics as mannered. Konchalovsky's powerful Uncle Vanya (1970) from the play by 'Anton Chekhov_ is regarded by many people as one of the best films in the Russian language ever. Siberiade (1979) - a dramatic and realistic story of the lives of the people of Siberia - was internationally acclaimed and brought Konchalovsky to the attention of American and European producers. From then on-wards his career has been international in scope. Pleasing critics and audiences worldwide, he made the English language films Maria's Lovers (1984), Runaway Train (1985), Duet for One (1986) (praised for Max von Sydow's brilliant performance), and the award-winning Homer and Eddie (1989) starring Whoopi Goldberg. Konchalovsky moved to the mainstream territory with the action packed Tango & Cash (1989). Charasteristically he still insists that this work is no less laudable than any of his others. He also directed plays and operas in a number of European cities. In the early 1990s he returned to Russia and directed several theatre productions most notably "The Seagull" by Chekhov and "Miss Julie" by August Strindberg. Residing in Moscow Konchalovsky sometimes makes short excursions to Hollywood to make mainstream TV productions like the Emmy-winning The Odyssey (1997) and The Lion in Winter (2003) in which Glenn Close gave an award-winning performance. His Russian-French co-production House of Fools (2002) - a story set in an asylum that stands on the border between Russia and Chechenya during the war in Chechenya - was warmly received in Europe and won an honor at the 2002 Venice Film Festival. However the film antagonized the critics in Russia. In the very beginning of his career he was credited as Mikhalkov- Konchalovsky. Later he adopted his mother's maiden name to distinguish himself from his younger brother, Nikita Mikhalkov, who was rapidly becoming a famous filmmaker himself. For his last feature film The Postman's White Nights (2014), shot digitally in his home country Russia, Andrey Konchalovsky won the 'Best Director' award at the 'Venice International Film Festival' in 2014.- Animation Department
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Born to Jewish parents and raised in a Moscow suburb, Yuri Norstein painted as a hobby and trained as a carpenter before studying animation. He directed his first film in 1968 and made a series of short films notable for their attention to atmosphere and fine detail, using a multiplane camera to create the illusion of three-dimensional depth. His 1979 film, 'Tale of Tales' was acclaimed by a panel of international animation experts as the best animated film of all time. Since then, he has worked on an adaptation of Gogol's 'The Overcoat', which has been beset by production and funding problems.- Director
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Rein Raamat was born on 20 March 1931 in Türi, Estonia. He is a director and production designer, known for Põrgu (1983), Taking Off (1973) and Suur Tõll (1980).- Director
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Ruben Gevorkyants was born on 30 November 1945 in Yerevan, Armenian SSR, USSR [now Armenia]. He was a director and writer, known for Kghziner (1987), Requiem (1989) and Autumn of the Magician (2009). He died on 23 June 2017 in Yerevan, Armenia.- Director
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Peeter Simm was born on 24 February 1953 in Kiviõli, Estonian SSR, USSR [now Estonia]. He is a director and writer, known for Head käed (2001), Kõrini! (2005) and Odinokiy ostrov (2012).- Actor
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Kaljo Kiisk was born on 3 December 1925 in Voka, Ida-Virumaa, Estonia. He was an actor and director, known for Maaletulek (1973), Hullumeelsus (1969) and Vallatud kurvid (1959). He was married to Sinaida Kiisk. He died on 20 September 2007 in Tallinn, Estonia.- Director
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Creator of the "distance montage," Artavazd Peleshian, one of the key Soviet documentary makers, removed the boundaries of feature and documentary films, editing both sequences as a real poetical unity. His "distance montage" was a new step in the development of film editing.
Even his student works [The Earth of the People (1966) and the Beginning (1967)] shot at VGIK, the oldest film school in Moscow, were awarded numerous prizes and he gained recognition among filmmakers. In 1975, he petitioned the Soviet authorities to allow the blacklisted cinematographer Mikhail Vartanov to film his ambitious next project and together they created the masterpiece Four Seasons (1975). It was Pelechian's first film without any archive footage, thanks to Vartanov's exquisite black and white cinematography.
Alongside his very successful solo career, Peleshian was invited to direct archive footage by such masters as Lev Kulidzhanov for Zvyozdnaya minuta (1973) and Andrey Konchalovskiy for Siberiade (1979). Mikhail Vartanov directed Osennyaya pastoral (1971) from Peleshian's screenplay.
Artavazd Peleshian is the author of a range of theoretical works, including his 1988 book "Moyo kino" ("My Cinema"). Some of the most important works of Armenia's documentary cinema include Sergei Parajanov's Hakob Hovnatanyan (1967), Mikhail Vartanov's Parajanov: The Last Spring (1992) and Artavazd Peleshian's Four Seasons (1975).- Director
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'Tengiz Abuladze' studied theatrical direction af the Chota Rustaveli Theatre Institute in Tbilisi, Georgia, and film- making at the VGIK Cinematography Institute, graduating in 1953, when he joined Georgia Film Studios as a director. He made documentaries before making his feature debut in 1958. His best-known work in the West is the trilogy Vedreba (1967), The Wishing Tree (1976) and 0093754, the latter being one of the first films to be released in the post-glasnost era, and one of the most controversial, thanks to its allegorical portrait of a small town under Stalinist terror (Stalin, like Abuladze, hailing originally from Georgia). It was a huge success in the Soviet Union, and achieved reasonable distribution abroad, almost unheard of for a Georgian film.- Director
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One of the 20th century's greatest masters of cinema Sergei Parajanov was born in Georgia to Armenian parents and it was always unlikely that his work would conform to the strict socialist realism that Soviet authorities preferred. After studying film and music, Parajanov became an assistant director at the Dovzhenko studios in Kiev, making his directorial debut in 1954, following that with numerous shorts and features, all of which he subsequently dismissed as "garbage". However, in 1964 he was able to make Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (1965), a rhapsodic celebration of Ukrainian folk culture, and the world discovered a startling and idiosyncratic new talent. He followed this up with the even more innovative The Color of Pomegranates (1969) (which explored the art and poetry of his native Armenia in a series of stunningly beautiful tableaux), but by this stage the authorities had had enough, and Paradjanov spent most of the 1970s in prison on almost certainly rigged charges of "homosexuality and illegal trafficking in religious icons". However, with the coming of perestroika, he was able to make The Legend of Suram Fortress (1985), Ashik Kerib (1988) and The Confession, which survives as Parajanov: The Last Spring (1992), before succumbing to cancer in 1990.- Director
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Elem Klimov was born on 9 July 1933 in Stalingrad, Nizhne-Volzhskiy kray, RSFSR, USSR [now Volgograd, Volgogradskaya oblast, Russia]. He was a director and actor, known for Come and See (1985), Rasputin (1981) and Pokhozhdeniya zubnogo vracha (1965). He was married to Larisa Shepitko. He died on 26 October 2003 in Moscow, Russia.- Actor
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Aleksey German was born on 20 July 1938 in Leningrad, Russian SFSR, USSR [now St. Petersburg, Russia]. He was an actor and writer, known for Khrustalyov, My Car! (1998), Hard to Be a God (2013) and Moy drug Ivan Lapshin (1985). He was married to Svetlana Karmalita. He died on 21 February 2013 in St. Petersburg, Russia.- Actor
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Dodo Abashidze was born on 1 May 1924 in Tiflis, Transcaucasian SFSR, USSR [now Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia]. He was an actor and director, known for Ashik Kerib (1988), The Legend of Suram Fortress (1985) and The First Swallow (1975). He died on 26 January 1990.- Director
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Leida Laius was born on 26 March 1923 in Horoshevo, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union [now Russia]. She was a director and writer, known for Naerata ometi (1985), Libahunt (1968) and Kõrboja peremees (1979). She died on 6 April 1996 in Tallinn, Estonia.- Cinematographer
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Arvo Iho was born on 21 June 1949 in Rakvere, Estonian SSR, USSR [now Estonia]. He is a cinematographer and director, known for Karu süda (2001), Ainult hulludele ehk halastajaõde (1991) and The Birdwatcher (1988).- Director
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Konstantin Lopushanskiy was born on 12 June 1947 in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukrainian SSR, USSR [now Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine]. He is a director and writer, known for The Ugly Swans (2006), Visitor of a Museum (1989) and Dead Man's Letters (1986).- Director
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Juris Podnieks was born on 5 December 1950 in Riga, USSR [now Latvia]. He was a director and cinematographer, known for Is It Easy to Be Young? (1986), Constellation of Rifleman (1982) and Krustcels (1990). He died on 23 June 1992.- Director
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Herz Frank was born on 17 January 1926 in Ludza, Latvia. He was a director and writer, known for Flashback (2003), Reiz dzivoja septini Simeoni (1989) and Augstaka tiesa (1987). He died on 3 March 2013 in Jerusalem, Israel.- Writer
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Priit Pärn was born on 26 August 1946 in Tallinn, Estonian SSR, USSR [now Estonia]. He is a writer and director, known for Elu ilma Gabriella Ferrita (2008), 1895 (1995) and Eine murul (1987).- Director
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Vasili Pichul was born on 15 June 1961 in Zhdanov, Stalino Oblast, Ukrainian SSR, USSR [now Mariupol, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine]. He was a director and writer, known for Little Vera (1988), Kinofestival, ili Portveyn Eyzenshteyna (2006) and Nebo v almazakh (1999). He was married to Mariya Khmelik. He died on 26 July 2015 in Moscow, Russia.- Director
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Kira Muratova was born on 5 November 1934 in Soroca, Romania [now Moldova]. She was a director and writer, known for Nastroyshchik (2004), Vtorostepennye lyudi (2001) and The Asthenic Syndrome (1989). She was married to Aleksandr Muratov and Yevgeni Golubenko. She died on 6 June 2018 in Odessa, Ukraine.- Cinematographer
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Andres Sööt was born on 4 February 1934 in Paide, Estonia. He is a cinematographer and director, known for Jääriik (1970), Draakoni aasta (1989) and Pulmapildid (1979).- Director
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Vitali Kanevsky was born on 4 September 1935 in Gamarnik, Far East Krai, RSFSR, USSR [now Partizansk, Primorsky Krai, Russia]. He is a director and writer, known for Freeze Die Come to Life (1990), An Independent Life (1992) and KTO Bolche (2000).- Writer
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Pavel Semyonovich Lungin (born July 12, 1949) is a Russian film director. He is sometimes credited as Pavel Loungine (as in the American release of Tycoon).
Born 12 July 1949 in Moscow, Lungin is the son of a scriptwriter and linguist. He later attended Moscow State University from which he graduated in 1971. Lungin worked primarily as a scriptwriter until given the opportunity to direct Taxi Blues at age 40.
Lungin was awarded the Best Director Prize at 1990 Cannes Film Festival for the film Taxi Blues starring Pyotr Mamonov. That same year he took up residence in France, while making films in and about Russia with French producers. Two years later, his next film Luna Park would also compete at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival. In 1993 he was a member of the jury at the 18th Moscow International Film Festival.
He was the librettist for Nikolai Karetnikov's opera Till Eulenspiegel (written 1983) and Karetnikov's oratorio The Mystery of St. Paul.
In 2006 he directed the religious film The Island which also starred Mamonov. The film closed the 63rd Venice International Film Festival and was praised by the Russian Orthodox Church leader Alexis II.
Lungin was awarded the distinction People's Artist of Russia in 2008.
In 2009 he was the President of the Jury at the 31st Moscow International Film Festival.- Producer
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Karen Shakhnazarov was born on 8 July 1952 in Krasnodar, Krasnodarskiy kray, RSFSR, USSR [now Russia]. He is a producer and director, known for Ward No. 6 (2009), Zerograd (1988) and White Tiger (2012).- Actor
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Nikita Mikhalkov is the son of the famous communist poet Sergey Mikhalkov, who wrote the lyrics of the Soviet national anthem and had strong connections to the Communist Party. Nikita Mikhalkov's mother, Natalya Petrovna Konchalovskaya, was also a poet and daughter of famous painter Pyotr Petrovich Konchalovsky and his wife Olga Vasilievna Surikova, and by her the great granddaughter of another great painter Vasily Surikov. And then last, but not least, Nikita Mikhalkov is the brother of Andrey Konchalovskiy, also a distinguished film director who, unlike Nikita, has worked in the USA.
Not only did Mikhalkov direct the Academy Award-winning film "Burnt by the Sun" but he is also well-known as a versatile actor, having appeared in over 40 films, including the role of the Russian Tsar Alexander III in his own "The Barber of Siberia" (1998).
Mikhalkov has an impressively long list of wins at the most prestigious film festivals, like Cannes, Venice, Moscow or Karlovy Vary.
Following his movie's Oscar win for Best Foreign Language Film, Nikita Mikhalkov won a parliamentary seat in the then Prime Minister Victor Chernomyrdin's party.
He is always in the spotlight, especially in Moscow, where he resides.- Director
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Artour Aristakisian was born on 11 October 1961 in Kishinyov, Moldavian SSR, USSR [now Chisinau, Republic of Moldova]. He is a director and writer, known for Ladoni (1994), Mesto na zemle (2001) and Karot (1990).- Director
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He was born with a disability because of an anatomic defect of his leg, in 1951 in Podorvikha village in Siberian Russia. His father was a Red Army veteran of WW2. One of most important contemporary filmmakers, Sokurov worked extensively in television and later graduated from the prestigious film school, VGIK, in 1979. His films often created tensions with the Soviet authorities but he received great support from such outstanding film masters as Andrei Tarkovsky. Particularly, after the collapse of the regime, Sokurov's films started earning him numerous awards around the world. While most known for his feature films, Sokurov has directed over 20 interesting documentaries. His 2002 sensational "Russian Ark" is a historic achievement that will be watched and talked about by many generations.
Sokurov has collected a number of awards at Berlin, Cannes, Moscow, Toronto, Locarno and European Film Awards. He lives and works in Russia.- Producer
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Timur Bekmambetov is a Kazakh-Russian film director known for vampire franchise Night Watch (2004) and Day Watch (2006).
He was born Timur Nuruakhitovich Bekmambetov on June 25, 1961, in Guryev, Soviet Union (now Atyrau, Kazakhstan). His father, Nuruakhit Bekmambetov, is a manager at Guryev Energy company; his mother, Mira Bogoslavskaya, was a journalist. Young Bekmambetov was raised along the Ural river in Kazakhstan, Soviet Union.
In 1978, aged 17, he moved to Moscow. There from 1978 to 1980 he attended the Moscow Energy Institute, but he was more interested in art and movies. Eventually, he dropped out of college, and joined the cultural milieu around such artists as Anatoli Zverev and Oskar Rabin. Then, from 1982 to 1987 he studied painting at Tashkent Theatrical Art Institute, graduating in 1987 as artist of theatre and film. From 1987 to 1988 he served in the Red Army stationed at artillery division near Ashkhabad, Turkmenistan. Then he worked as set designer at "Ilkhom" Drama Theatre in Tashkent, and at Uzbek Film Studio.
Since 1989 he has been directing commercials. In 1992 Bekmambetov made his directorial and writing debut with Peshawar Waltz (1994), a film about the Soviet war in Afghanistan which received awards at several festivals in Europe. From 1992 to 1997 he made 18 commercials for the Russian bank "Imperial" and was named best young director of 1997 by Russian Film Academy. In 1999 he started his own film company, Bazelevs Production.
His big break came with the success of the vampire franchise Night Watch (2004) and Day Watch (2006), which he directed during 2003 - 2005. Both films became international blockbusters, and received several awards and nominations. The third installment, Twilight Watch (2009), is slated for release in 2009.
Since 2005, Bekmambetov has been working in Hollywood, writing, directing and producing several flicks, such as Wanted (2008), 9 (2009), and The Red Star. Back in Russia, he made another success directing The Irony of Fate 2 (2007), a romantic comedy based on the Soviet era characters and capitalizing on nostalgia among some of the post-Soviet audiences.
Timur Bekmambetov established himself as a master of dense narrative. His films often surprise the viewers with eerie details, hectic pace and unusual twists and turns, and remain a challenge even for experienced audiences.- Producer
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Marina Razbezhkina was born on 17 July 1948 in Kazan, Tatar ASSR, RSFSR, USSR [now Republic of Tatarstan, Russia]. She is a producer and director, known for Vremya zhatvy (2004), Kanikuly (2006) and The Hollow (2007).- Director
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Aleksey Balabanov was born on 25 February 1959 in Sverdlovsk, Sverdlovskaya oblast, RSFSR, USSR [now Ekaterinburg, Russia]. He was a director and writer, known for Brother (1997), Cargo 200 (2007) and Of Freaks and Men (1998). He was married to Irina ? and Nadezhda Vasileva. He died on 18 May 2013 in Solnechnoye, Leningradskaya oblast, Russia.- Director
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Alexei Popogrebsky was born on 7 August 1972 in Moscow, RSFSR, USSR [now Russia]. He is a director and writer, known for How I Ended This Summer (2010), Koktebel (2003) and Prostye veshchi (2007).- Director
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Aleksey Fedorchenko was born on 29 September 1966 in Sol-Iletsk, Sol-Iletskiy rayon, Orenburgskaya oblast, RSFSR, USSR [now Russia]. He is a director and producer, known for Angels of Revolution (2014), The Last Darling Bulgaria (2021) and First on the Moon (2005).- Director
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Documentary film director. Born on July 19, 1961 in Leningrad. Since 1978 he worked at the Leningrad studio of Documentaries as assistant cameraman, assistant director and editor. In 1988 he finished the Higher Courses of Film Writers and Directors in Moscow. Laureate of the "Triumph" Prize, Laureate of the RF State Award and the "Nika" prize. Award-winner of numerous national and international film forums. He started his own production company, Kossakovsky Film Production, based in San Petersburg, to create a cinema with a strong focus in poetics and reality.- Actor
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Yuriy Bykov was born on August 15, 1981 in Novomichurinsk, Soviet Union is a Russian filmmaker, screenwriter and actor. He is best known for directing the social films The Major (2013), The Fool (2014) and the crime TV series The Method (2015).
In 2009, he directed a short film Nachalnik (2009), in which he appeared as a screenwriter, director, composer, producer and actor. The film was awarded the prize for Best Short Film at the Kinotavr Film Festival.
In 2010 Yuri Bykov made his feature film debut with the film To Live! (2010).
In 2013, his film The Major (2013) premiered in the International Critics' Week at the Cannes Film Festival. The crime drama was awarded at several festivals, including prizes for Best Picture, Best Director and For Outstanding Artistic Contribution at the 16th Shanghai International Film Festival. In 2016, the American company Netflix received distribution rights and plans to remake the film as a mini-series, titled Seven Seconds (2018), which will include 10 episodes.
In 2014, the social drama film The Fool (2014) was released. The picture received a number of prestigious awards, including the Grigori Gorin prize for the Best Script and the diploma of the Russian Guild of Film Critics ("For the uncompromising artistic expression") at the 2014 Kinotavr Festival. Also the film was highly rated by The New York Times critic Stephen Holden, who named it as one the five best films of 2015.
In 2014 he became the director of the first season of the crime drama TV series The Method (2015), which was released on the screen next year. Konstantin Khabenskiy, who liked Bykov's work on the film The Major (2013), invited him to work as director on the series. Yuri Bykov notes that he shot the series "according to the principles of the comics" in its light form and followed the instructions of the showrunner Alexander Tsekalo about creating a Sreda ("Russian HBO"). The series received the TEFI award in the category "Television Film / TV series" and several other awards. Bykov refused to participate in the shooting of the second season because he wanted to concentrate on making more auteur films.
He shot two-thirds of the film Spacewalk (2017), dedicated to Alexey Leonov and his spacewalk, but because of creative disagreements he was removed from the project. According to the producer of the film Timur Bekmambetov, the film has some scenes which were filmed by Yuri Bykov. Bykov noted in an interview that is not interested in seeing the movie because the story became drastically simplified and the film's tone became overly patriotic.- Director
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Ilya Naishuller is a film director, actor, producer, screenwriter and the frontman of indie rock band Biting Elbows, founded in 2008. From 8 to 14 he studied in London, and later graduated from the British International School in Yasenevo. Naishuller dropped out of the Institute of Television and Radio Broadcasting, then entered university in New York, but did not graduate. In March 2013, Ilya directed the Biting Elbows' "Bad Motherfucker" YouTube video with over 45 million views.
In 2015, Naishuller wrote and directed the action movie "Hardcore Henry" with Shalto Copley, Hayley Bennett, Danila Kozlovsky, Dariya Charusha and Svetlana Ustinova; and also produced and co-directed the TV series "Barvikha." He shot a video for The Weeknd's "False Alarm" in 2016, a video for the group "Kolshchik" in 2017, and recently directed the hit action-comedy "Nobody" starring Bob Odenkirk in 2021. Naishuller married actress Dariya Charusha in the summer of 2010.- Director
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Aleksey German Jr. was born on 4 September 1976 in Moscow, Russian SFSR, USSR [now Russia]. He is a director and writer, known for Paper Soldier (2008), Posledniy poezd (2003) and Under Electric Clouds (2015). He is married to Elena Okopnaya.- Director
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Vitaliy Manskiy was born on 2 December 1963 in Lvov, Lvovskaya oblast, Ukrainskaya SSR, USSR [now Lviv, Lvivska oblast, Ukraine]. He is a director and writer, known for Pipeline (2013), Under the Sun (2015) and Motherland or Death (2011).- Director
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Kirill Serebrennikov was born on 7 September 1969 in Rostov-na-Donu, Rostovskaya oblast, RSFSR, USSR [now Russia]. He is a director and writer, known for Leto (2018), The Student (2016) and Petrov's Flu (2021).- Director
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Director and screenwriter Andrey Zvyagintsev is the winner of the Venice Film Festival (2003) and the Cannes Film Festival (2011, 2014, 2017). Two-time the Academy Awards and the BAFTA Awards nominee. Winner or the Golden Globe Awards (2015) for his film "Leviathan". In 2018, his latest work "Loveless" was awarded Best Foreign Film by the César Academy, France.
Born on the 6th of February in 1964 in Novosibirsk, Andrey Zvyagintsev attended the Novosibirsk Theatrical School, class of Lev Belov, before pursuing his studies in Moscow. In 1990, he graduated from the acting faculty of the Russian Institute of Theater Arts (GITIS), class of Evgeny Lazarev. In the following years Andrey gave several theatre, film and TV appearances as an actor.
In 2000, he debuted as a director. He made three short films for REN TV Channel's "The Black Room" series - "Bushido", "Obscure", "The Choice" - that was followed by his first full-length feature.
In 2003, "The Return", a debut not only for the director but also for the majority of the crew, played the main competition at the 60th Venice Film Festival and won its highest prize, the Golden Lion. Besides, Zvyagintsev was awarded the Lion of the Future for best debut, "a very delicate film about love, loss and growing". It captured the attention all over the world becoming one of the cinema sensations of the year.
His second film, "The Banishment", competed for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 2007 and won Best Actor (Konstantin Lavronenko) - the first-ever for a Russian artist.
In 2011, Zvyagintsev's third film, "Elena", premiered at the 64th Cannes Film Festival and won the Special Jury Prize in the Un Certain Regard section.
His fourth film, "Leviathan", screened in competition at the Cannes Film Festival in 2014 and won Best Screenplay (Andrey Zvyagintsev and Oleg Negin). In 2015, the film won the Golden Globe becoming the first Russian feature to win this award since 1969. The film got an Oscar nomination in the same category at the 87th Academy Awards.
Zvyagintsev's next film, "Loveless", won the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 2017 and was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards in 2018. "Loveless" was released in all major territories earning nominations for all acclaimed cinema awards worldwide including The Golden Globe Awards and BAFTA. It was awarded Best Foreign Film at France's César Awards, for the first time in history of both Soviet and Russian cinema.
In 2018, Andrey Zvyagintsev served on the Cannes Film Festival jury.- Director
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Andrey A. Tarkovskiy was born on 7 August 1970 in the USSR. He is a director and writer, known for Andrey Tarkovsky. A Cinema Prayer (2019), Andrey Rublev. Vospominaniya o filme (2024) and Andrey Tarkovskiy. Vospominanie (1996).- Writer
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Born in 1991 in Nalchik, capital of the Autonomous Republic of Kabardino-Balkaria, in the North Caucasus, Kantemir Balagov leaves the city for Stavropol where he undertakes studies in economics. But the twenty-three-year-old man's interest is elsewhere and, while being passionate about photography, he decides to join the film department of the Nalchik University founded and directed by Alexander Sokurov. There, he directs three short films, including the documentary "Andriouchka" (2014) and "Me first" (2015), his graduation work. His first feature film, "Tesnota - A Cramped Life", inspired by a real news item (the kidnapping of a fiancée on the eve of her wedding), stands out for its bitter, very personal style and its sense of space (everything is cramped, as the subtitle indicates). This atypical film has earned him the Fipresci Prize at Cannes in 2017 as well as the Grand Jury Prize and the Award for Best Actress at the Premiers Plans Film Festival in Angers in 2018. His second feature, "Beanpole", even more ambitious in that it is a period drama, set in Leningrad in 1945, is the riveting account of the friendship binding two women trying hard to re-adapt to civilian life. This major work won the Best Direction Award at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival in the "Un Certain regard" section.- Director
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Natasha Merkulova Director, scriptwriter Natasha Merkulova was born September 19, 1979 in the town of Buzuluk in the Orenburg Region, USSR. In 2001 - graduated from Irkutsk State University with a degree in journalism and stared career at television. In 2003 - together with director Andrey Kaminskiy shot documentary 'THE CELL' about children of HIV-infected parents and was later awarded an Artyom Borovik prize for investigative journalism. In 2008 - presented short documentary 'Traumatism', that was later awarded the special prize of the Kinoshock film festival in Anapa, Russia. In 2010 - graduated from the Advanced Course for Scriptwriters and Film Directors in Moscow. In 2012 - presented two short films 'Substance: Jam', that was selected to the program for the Chicago Underground Film independent movie festival in Chicago, USA, and 'Substance: Milk', selected to the official program of the Women in Film festival (Vancouver, Canada), the Loikka Dance Film Festival (Helsinki, Finland) and the Dance on Camera Festival (New-York, USA). In 2013 - teamed up with scriptwriter and director Alexey Chupov for the feature film debut 'Intimate Parts', that later won the Best Debut and Best Actress awards and the diploma from the Russian Guild of Film Critics at the Kinotavr Film Festival (Sochi, Russia), in addition to the Jury Prize at Black Nights International Film Festival in Tallinn, Estonia. 'Intimate Parts' was selected in the official program of several international film festivals including Karlovy Vary IFF (Czech Republic), Busan IFF (South Korea), Gothenburg IFF (Sweden), Listopad IFF (Minsk, Belarus), the Golden Apricot IFF (Yerevan, Armenia), Pacific Meridian (Vladivostok, Russia) and others.All of Natasha's later projects were created in collaboration with Alexey Chupov. In 2016 in collaboration with Aleksey Chupov directed their first TV series 'Tender Age Crisis'' for the Russian TV channel TNT. In 2017-2018 "Gogol", 8-episode cinematic series, written by Natasha Merkulova and Alexey Chupov, was theatrically released wide in Russia in 3 parts and collected the record-breaking Box Office in addition to unprecedented international sales results, including the sale to Amazon Prime Video for English-speaking territories. Simultaneously, another ambitious project written by Natasha and Alexey was produced - the space drama feature film 'Salyut 7', shot on IMAX 3D cameras. The film won the Best Feature Film and the Best Film Editing Golden Eagle awards. In 2018, the second feature film directed by Natasha and Alexey 'The Man Who Surprised Everyone' was selected to the Horizons Competition of the Venice International Film Festival and won the Best Actress award. The movie was selected also to international film festivals in Busan (South Korea), Gothenburg (Sweden), Rotterdam (Netherlands), Seattle (USA) and others and won the Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress Nika local awards. In 2020, the new project of the writing/directing tandem, the game-changing action thriller series 'Call Center' premiered at TNT TV channel and was digitally released at PREMIER global SVOD platform. It won The Best Script award at the Pilot film festival in Ivanovo, Russia. Selected filmography:- Director
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Alexey Chupov Director, scriptwriter Alexey Chupov was born on May 29, 1973 in Moscow, USSR. In 1992 - became exchange student at Wake Forest University in North Carolina, USA, took History of World Cinema course. In 1995 - graduated from the International Department of Moscow State University, Faculty of Journalism and started career at television and public relations. In 2008 - took Alexander Mitta professional course for scriptwriters and producers. In 2013 - teamed up with scriptwriter and director Natasha Merkulova for the feature film debut 'Intimate Parts', that later won the Best Debut and Best Actress awards and the diploma from the Russian Guild of Film Critics at the Kinotavr Film Festival (Sochi, Russia), in addition to the Jury Prize at Black Nights International Film Festival in Tallinn, Estonia. 'Intimate Parts' was selected in the official program of several international film festivals including Karlovy Vary IFF (Czech Republic), Busan IFF (South Korea), Gothenburg IFF (Sweden), Listopad IFF (Minsk, Belarus), the Golden Apricot IFF (Yerevan, Armenia), Pacific Meridian (Vladivostok, Russia) and others.All of his later works were created in collaboration with Natasha Merkulova. In 2016 in collaboration with Natasha Merkulova directed their first TV series 'Tender Age Crisis' for the Russian TV channel TNT. In 2017-2018 'Gogol', 8-episode cinematic series, written by Natasha Merkulova and Alexey Chupov, was theatrically released wide in Russia in 3 parts and collected the record-breaking Box Office in addition to unprecedented international sales results, including the sale to Amazon Prime Video for English-speaking territories. Simultaneously, another ambitious project written by Natasha and Alexey was produced - the space drama feature film 'Salyut 7', shot on IMAX 3D cameras. The film won the Best Feature Film and the Best Film Editing Golden Eagle awards. In 2018, the second feature film directed by Natasha and Alexey 'The Man Who Surprised Everyone' was selected to the Horizons Competition of the Venice International Film Festival and won the Best Actress award. The movie was selected also to international film festivals in Busan (South Korea), Gothenburg (Sweden), Rotterdam (Netherlands), Seattle (USA) and others and won the Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress Nika local awards. In 2020, the new project of the writing/directing tandem, the game-changing action thriller series 'Call Center' premiered at TNT TV channel and was digitally released at PREMIER global SVOD platform. It won The Best Script award at the Pilot film festival in Ivanovo, Russia.