Russian Cinema in 100 Names
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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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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.- 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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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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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.- 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.- Actress
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Lyubov Orlova was a Russian film star of the 1930s who enjoyed the sympathy of Joseph Stalin.
She was born Lyubov Petrovna Orlova on January 29, 1902 in Zvenigorod, a suburb of Moscow, Russia. Her father, Petr Orlov, was an officer in the Russian Imperial Army, her mother, Evgenia Sukhotina, belonged to Russian Landed Gentry. Through her parents, Orlova was a descendant from the old Russian aristocratic family of Prince Orlov, and was also related to Count Lev Tolstoy, for whom she sang along with the popular Russian basso Feodor Chaliapin Sr. in 1909. From 1919 to 1922 Orlova studied piano and singing at the Moscow Conservatory, but she did not graduate. From 1922-1926, Orlova studied dancing and choreography at the Moscow Theatre College. Then she worked on stage with director Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko at the Moscow Musical Theatre of Stanislavsky.
In 1926 Orlova married Andrei Berezin, a prominent Soviet opposition politician. He was arrested in 1930, and was imprisoned for many years; this tragedy caused Orlova a severe depression and she had problems with alcohol. Orlova was seen on stage by many influential people in Moscow. After losing her husband she had other relationships before she met director Grigoriy Aleksandrov. He was looking for an actress to co-star opposite Leonid Utyosov in 'Moscow laughs'. The film became a big success in the 30s Soviet Union. Orlova became Aleksandrov's mistress. Eventually Alrksandrov divorced from his wife and married Orlova, who became the leading star of the Soviet film industry before the Second World War.
Joseph Stalin liked Orlova very much and promoted her to the title of Honorable Actress of Russian Federation in January of 1935. Stalin was probably in a good mood, when he offered Orlova to make her wish come true. She asked about the fate of her first husband. Stalin was surprised. Soon Orlova was called to visit the Lubyanka office of NKVD (KGB). There she was told that her ex-husband is alive in prison and that she may see him, and even join him in his cell. She was scared and humbled and left quietly. Later, in 1949 her ex-husband was diagnosed with cancer, released from prison and died in Lithuania at the home of his mother.
Stalin made Orlova the regular guest at his lavish drinking parties in Moscow. She became addicted to alcohol and was severely criticized by the official paper 'Sovetskoe Iskusstvo' (The Soviet Art). Director Aleksandrov managed to save his wife from her alcohol addiction by threatening to abort her film career. She obeyed and quit drinking. Her films 'Tsirk' (aka.. Circus 1936), 'Volga-Volga' (1938), and 'Svetly Put' (aka.. The Shining Path 1940, aka.. Tanya) were hugely successful. 'Svetly Put' was originally titled 'Cinderella' by the author Viktor Ardov, but Stalin ordered the title to be changed to 'The Shining Path'. Stalin's control over the Soviet film industry was absolute. For her leading roles in 'Volga-Volga' and 'Svetly Put' Orlova was personally awarded by Joseph Stalin with the State Stalin Prize.
At the beginning of the Nazi invasion of Russia during the Second World War, both Orlova and Aleksandrov were filming in Riga, Latvia. They narrowly escaped from the advancing Nazi armies and rushed to Moscow. There Aleksandrov served at the regular night watch during Luftwaffe air raids and bombings. He was severely wounded by a bomb explosion in September of 1941, and suffered from spinal trauma for the rest of his life. In the fall of 1941 Orlova and Aleksandrov were evacuated from Moscow to Baku, Azerbaijan. There they made a film 'Odna Semya' (A Family 1943) which was banned by the Soviet Censorship Committee. The official reason for banning the innocent film was its lacking of propaganda about the fight of the Soviet people against the Nazi invasion.
Orlova was known to be immune from gossips and rumors. She was also known as a faithful wife to Aleksandrov. Though she worked mainly in his films, she also occasionally worked in films made by other directors. She was never allowed by her director-husband Aleksandrov to be kissed in a film, with one exception made for actor Andrey Tutyshkin in 'Volga-Volga'. Her characters were sexy in a way acceptable by the rigid Soviet censorship under Stalin. One scene from the film 'Vstrecha na Elbe' (Meeting on the Elbe 1949) was ordered by Stalin to be deleted, because Stalin criticized the half-naked girls dancing to American Jazz music while celebrating the Victory. However, Stalin kept the uncensored original for himself, and later Stalin showed this scene at his home theatre to Aleksandrov and other guests. Stalin liked the scene, but banned it from being seen by millions of viewers in the Soviet Union.
From 1930 to the end of her life, Orlova has a rare medical problem - she suffered from sensitivity to daylight, which she developed after the stressful arrest of her first husband. She also suffered from severe insomnia and depended on various medications. She was spending much time at her home behind shielded windows. Her later work with Aleksandrov, such as in 'Russki suvenir' (Russian Souvenir 1960) was a flop. Her last stage performance was in Leningrad, in 1963, after that she was not seen on stage. Her last film with Aleksandrov, 'Skvorets i Lira' (1973), was not released upon Orlova's insistence, because she was shocked with her own looks in the film.
Lyubov Orlova was the first Russian film star to use plastic surgeries in her later years. At that time she refused to be photographed, and was hiding from public. She died of pancreatic cancer on January 26, 1975, and three days later, on her 73rd birthday, she was laid to rest in Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow, Russia.- Writer
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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].- Actor
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Aleksei Vladimirovich Batalov was born on November 20, 1928, into the family of famous Russian theatrical actor Vladimir Batalov. He was born in the city of Vladimir, near Moscow, where his grandmother was the Doctor General at the Vladimir city hospital. His parents, Vladimir Petrovich Batalov and Nina Antonovna Olshevskaya, were both actors of the Moscow Art Theatre (MKhAT), under the directorship of Konstantin Stanislavski and Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko. His uncle, named Nikolay Batalov, was a distinguished film actor.
The Batalov family lived in the actor's apartments building at the Moscow Art Theatre. There young Aleksei got early exposure to the acting profession. He then moved with his mother to the home of her second husband writer Viktor Ardov, who was the neighbor of Osip Mandelstam. Young Batalov became a good friend of poet Anna Akhmatova who stayed in his room during her many visits to Moscow. Later, in the 1960's, Aleksei Batalov painted an oil portrait of Anna Akhmatova. Writers Mikhail A. Bulgakov, Mikhail Zoschenko, Boris Pasternak were among the closest friends of the Batalov's family, being also the colleagues of his stepfather Viktor Ardov.
In 1945, upon his return from evacuation in Tatarstan, Aleksei Batalov made his film debut as a cameo in 'Zoya'. He studied acting professionally at the Moscow Art Theatre's Acting Studio-School of Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko from which he graduated in 1950, as an actor. That same year he was drafted in the Red Army and worked as an actor with the Central Theatre of the Soviet Army from 1950-1953. He then returned to the Moscow Art Theatre and was a permanent member of the troupe through 1957.
Batalov shot to fame with his role in 'Bolshaya Semya' (The Big Family 1954) directed by 'Iosif Kheifets'. For that role he won the Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival, which he shared with his partners Sergei Lukyanov, Boris Andreyev, Nikolai Gritsenko, Pavel Kadochnikov, and others; the whole ensemble of actors and actresses were awarded for that film at Cannes, in 1955.
Aleksei Batalov received more international acclaim for his memorable acting opposite Tatyana Samoylova in The Cranes Are Flying (1957) (aka.. The Cranes Are Flying) for which director Mikhail Kalatozov won the Golden Palm at Cannes, in 1958. Batalov won the Jussi Diploma of Merit (1962) for the supporting role in 'Dama s sobachkoi' (aka.. The Lady with the Dog), a story by Anton Chekhov directed by Iosif Kheifits. Batalov also worked with Kheifits in 'V gorode S.' (In the Town of S.), another story by Anton Chekhov. Alrksei Batalov himself directed three films; 'Shinel' (1960) on the story by Nikolay Gogol, 'Tri tolstyaka' (1966) by Yuriy Olesha, and 'Igrok' (1973) (aka.. The Gambler), an adaptation of the eponymous book by Fyodor Dostoevsky.
Aleksei Batalov earned the State Prize of the USSR for a strong and difficult leading role in '9 dney odnogo goda' (1961), for which director Mikhail Romm won Crystal Globe. Batalov's performance in the leading role of a Russian intellectual in 'Beg' (1970) based on the play by Mikhail A. Bulgakov, was somewhat overshadowed by the brilliant duo of his film partners Mikhail Ulyanov and Evgeniy Evstigneev. However, after a few years of his hiatus, Batalov made a successful comeback in 'Moskva slezam ne verit' (1979), which won an Oscar for the Best Foreign Language Film (1981).
In addition to his numerous international awards Batalov was honored with the title of the People's Artist of the USSR (1976). He was decorated and received many Soviet and Russian awards from the state. Batalov was the Dean of the Actors Studio at the Moscow State Film Institute (VGIK) from 1975 to 2005. He taught over 20 acting seminars in the USA and Canada. He also made notable works for the Moscow Radio.
Aleksei Batalov resided and worked in Moscow, Russia, where he died on June 14, 2017.- The preeminent Russian actor, at least in Western eyes, of the first half of the twentieth century. He became interested in the theatre as a teenager and joined the Teatr Mariinskij as a stagehand in 1918. He apprenticed with various traveling companies and therein learned ballet, pantomime, and acrobatics. He studied at the St. Petersburg (Leningrad) Theater Institute and made his stage debut in 1926. The following year, he entered films and his commanding presence soon brought him leading roles and enormous acclaim, as well as the approbation of the Soviet leadership, which elected him a deputy of the Supreme Soviet. His greatest fame world-wide came with his work in the films of Sergei Eisenstein. Following the masterpieces _Aleksandr Nevsky (1938)_ and _Ivan Groznyj I (1945)_ he was named to the Order of Lenin and made People's Artist of the USSR, respectively. He died in 1966. He should not be confused with the actor Nikolay P. Cherkasov who starred in many Russian films.
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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.- Tatiana Samoilova (Tatyana Samojlova) is a Russian film actress known for the leading roles in The Cranes Are Flying (1957) and Anna Karenina (1967).
She was born Tatiana Evgenievna Samoilova on May 4, 1934, in Leningrad (St. Petersburg), Russia. Her father, Evgeniy Samoylov, was a notable Russian actor, Her mother, Zinaida Ilyinichna, was Jewish. Young Samojlova studied music under the tutelage of her mother. During the Second World War, she escaped from the siege of Leningrad with her parents, and moved to Moscow. There she studied ballet and graduated from the Ballet School of Stanislavsky Theatre. She was invited by Maya Plisetskaya to join the ballet school of Bolshoi Theatre, but she chose to be a dramatic actress. From 1953-1956 she studied at Shchukin Theatrical School, then at State Institute of Theatrical Art (GITIS), graduating in 1962, as actress. While a student, Samojlova made her film debut in Meksikanets (1955).
Samojlova shot to fame with the leading role as Veronika in Letyat Zhuravli (The Cranes are Flying 1957) by director Mikhail Kalatozov. In spite of the initial cold reception by the Soviet officialdom, the film was loved by public in Russia and internationally. It became the first and only Russian film to be awarded the Golden Palm at the Cannes Film Festival in 1958. Samojlova won a Special Mention at Cannes and was nominated for Best Foreign Actress BAFTA Film Award in 1959. She received many offers internationally, and was invited to work in Hollywood, but the Soviet government forced her to decline any jobs outside the Soviet Union.
During the 60s, her career stagnated due to overall stagnation in the USSR under Leonid Brezhnev. In 1960 Samojlova lost her job with Mayakovsky Theatre in Moscow, and was practically unemployed for several years. Her next success came with the title role in Anna Karenina (1967), an adaptation of the eponymous novel by Lev Tolstoy by director Aleksandr Zarkhi. Samojlova starred as Anna Karenina opposite her ex-husband Vasiliy Lanovoy.
During the 80s and 90s, Tatiana Samojlova had a lengthy pause in her film career. She made a comeback in several TV series in the 2000s. She was married four times, and has one son. Samojlova was designated People's Actress of Russia (1993). She is living in Moscow, 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 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.- Actress
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Inna Mikhailovna Churikova was born on October 5, 1943, in Belebey, near Ufa, Bashkiria Republic, Russia (at that time USSR). Her parents were from peasant families. Her father, Mikhail Kuzmich Churikov, was a veteran of the Second World War, he worked at Academy of Agriculture. Her mother, Elisaveta Zakharovna (nee Mantrova), was a Ph.D in Biochemistry. Young Inna Churikova was brought up in Moscow by her mother. During her school years she was fond of theatre and attended an acting class at Stanislavsky Theatre in Moscow. From 1960 - 1965 she attended Schepkin Theatrical School at Maly Theatre, graduating in 1965 as an actress.
In 1961 Churikova made her big screen debut in 'Tuchi nad Borskom', then she played bit parts in 'Ya shagayu po Moskve' and in several other films. She shot to fame with the leading role as Tanya Tetkina in _V ogne broda net (1968)_ by director Gleb Panfilov. Churikova's next role in The Beginning (1970), as Pasha Stroganova, a provincial amateur actress who is invited to play Joan of Arc in a big film, was arguably her best work in film. After having a big success with 'Nachalo', Churikova and her husband, director Gleb Panfilov, worked on development of an epic film about Joan of Arc, but their work on the project was obstructed by the Soviet officials. However, Churikova continued her successful film career. In 1984 she won the Silver Bear for Best Actress at the Berlin Film Festival for the leading role as Vera in 'Voenno-polevoy roman', by director Petr Todorovsky. She starred as Vera in 'God Sobaki', and as Asya in Ryaba, My Chicken (1994), among her other film works.
Since 1974 Inna Churikova has been a member of the troupe at Lenkom Theatre in Moscow under directorship of Mark Zakharov. There her stage partners were such actors as Nikolay Karachentsov, Gennadi Khazanov, Oleg Yankovskiy, Leonid Bronevoy, Aleksandr Abdulov, Armen Dzhigarkhanian, Aleksandr Zbruev, and other notable Russian actors. Among Churikova's most memorable stage performances were such roles as Sara in 'Ivanov' and as Arkadina in 'Seagull', both plays by Anton Chekhov. She also appeared as Ophelia in Shakespeare's 'Hamlet', and as Commissar in Vishnevsky's 'Optimisticheskaya tragedia', among her other stage works.
Inna Churikova has been loved by the public and earned critical acclaim for her range and effortless style. Churikova was designated Peoples Artist of the USSR (1991) and People's Artist of Russia. She was awarded the Golden Mask, and also received the State Prize of Russia (1985) and the Stanislavsky Prize for her contribution to theatre and film. She is residing in Moscow, Russia.- 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].- The famous Russian actor was discovered by Andrei Tarkovsky. He was looking for an actor to play the part of Andrei Rublev for his second full-length film and accidentally found the completely unknown Solonitsyn in Chelyabinsk. He worked there as an amateur actor. After Andrei Rublev, he played main parts in many of Russia's best movies.
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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].- Actor
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Yankovsky was named best actor in a 1984 reader poll by Soviet Screen for his role in "In Love Because He Wants to Be." He was awarded the State Prize in 1987 for his role in "Flying Asleep and Awake." In 1989 he received the Vasiliev State Prize for his role in "The Kreutzer Sonata." Yakovsky was given the lifetime achievement award at the 1983 All-Union Film Festival. He won the best actor NIKA in 1991, and in the same year was named People's Artist of the Soviet Union. Yankovsky was born in Kazakhstan and studied at the Slonov Theater Academy in Saratov. In 1965 he joined the Saratov Drama Theater, moving to Moscow's Lenkom Theater in 1973. He has presided over the Kinotavr Russian Open Film Festival since 1993.- 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.- Nonna Mordyukova, one of the foremost actresses of the Soviet Cinema, was frequently cast as a Russian peasant woman.
She was born Noyabrina (Nonna) Viktorovna Mordyukova on the 25th of November 1925 into a Cossack family in Konstantinovka settlement, Donetsk province, Ukraine, Soviet Union (now Ukraine). Her father was Viktor Konstantinovich Mordyukov. Her mother was Irina Petrovna Mordyukova. Young Nonna Mordyukova was fond of movies and had a dream of becoming an actress. In the 1930s she moved to Krasnodar province in Southern Russia, where her mother worked as chairwoman of kolkhoz - a collective farm. There Nonna Mordyukova survived the Nazi occupation during the Second World War.
From 1945 to 1950 she studied acting at Soviet State Institute of Cinema (VGIK) under Boris Bibikov and Olga Pyzhova. While studying in Moscow she made her film debut as Ulyana Gromova, the female lead in The Young Guard (1948), a patriotic movie about children in anti-fascist resistance. Mordyukova became instant celebrity in the Soviet Union and was awarded the State Stalin's Prize for the role. In the following string of movies she became typecast as a peasant woman, and eventually established herself as an epitome of strong willed Russian woman.
After having two decades of stellar career in Soviet propaganda films, Mordyukova starred as Klavdia Vavilova in Komissar (1967), a Red Army cavalry commissar, who is waylaid by an unexpected pregnancy. She stays with a Jewish family to give birth and is softened somewhat by the experience of family life. Made in 1967, the film was censored for 20 years, and director Aleksandr Askoldov was prosecuted by the Soviet communist party. Only during Mikhail Gorbachev's perestroika and glasnost the film was released to public and won several international awards, such as the Silver Bear at the Berlinale 1988. The reason for the Soviet censorship was strictly political: this is a pro-semitic film based on the story by Vasiliy Grossman that shows the unofficial view on communist occupation of Ukraine.
Mordyukova gained much acclaim for the supporting role as Superintendant Barbara Plyushch in The Diamond Arm (1969), the most popular Russian comedy of all time. In it, Mordyukova satirized a typical Soviet-style apartment manager, a woman of small mind, but with a big voice. Her other works of interest include: Prostaya istoriya (1960), Predsedatel (1964), War and Peace (1965) by director Sergey Bondarchuk, and Russkoye pole (1972), by director Nikolai Moskalenko, where she co-starred opposite her son, Vladimir Tikhonov.
During the 70s and 80s, she remained one of the most popular actresses in the Soviet Union. In 1992, she was included in the top ten actresses of the 20th century according to the British Cinema Encyclopedia "Who is who." After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Mordyukova had a slowdown in her career. During the last 15 years of her life, she was cast only in three films : Luna Park (1992), Shirli-Myrli, and her last work in Mama (1999). At that time, she wrote the book of memoirs "Ne plach, kazachka" (Don't Cry, Cossack Woman). In the course of her film career that lasted over 50 years, she played over 60 leading and supporting roles in Soviet film and television productions.
Nonna Mordyukova was designated People's actress of the USSR (1974). She was awarded the State Prizes of the USSR and Russia, and received numerous decorations from the Soviet and Russian governments. She was married to her classmate, actor Vyacheslav Tikhonov and the couple had one son, Vladimir Tikhonov. Nonna Mordyukova died of a hear failure and lung disease on July 6, 2008, in a Moscow hospital, and was laid to rest in Kuntsevskoe cemetery, Moscow, Russia. - Director
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Eldar Aleksandrovich Ryazanov was born on November 18, 1927 in Samara, Russia. He graduated with honors from the Soviet State Institute of Cinematography (VGIK) in 1950, as a film director. He was making documentaries for five years. In 1955 Ryazanov came to work at the Mosfilm Studios under the direction of Ivan Pyrev, who produced Ryazanov's first feature film 'Karnavalnaya Noch' (Carnival in Moscow, 1956). It was an instant box office hit starring Lyudmila Gurchenko and Igor Ilyinsky.
Ryazanov's early comedies 'Devushka bez adresa' (1957), 'Gusarskaya ballada' (1962), 'Dayte zhalobnuyu knigu' (1963) were popular in the time of the cultural "Thaw" which was initiated by Nikita Khrushchev. However Ryazanov's film 'Chelovek niotkuda' (1961) was banned by the Soviet censorship, regardless of the fine acting by Sergey Yurskiy and Anatoliy Papanov. 'Beregis avtomobilya' (Watch Out for the Automobile, 1966) is arguably the most popular of Ryazanov's comedies. In that film Ryazanov worked with the stellar cast, including such actors, as Innokenti Smoktunovsky , Oleg Yefremov, Anatoli Papanov, Georgi Zhzhyonov, Yevgeni Yevstigneyev, Andrei Mironov (I), Olga Aroseva, Donatas Banionis, and other Russian film stars. The music score for the film was written by the brilliant composer Andrey Petrov.
Ryazanov created his own style of lyrical comedy with a soft satire on the Soviet life. His 'Zigzag udachi', with Evgeniy Leonov in the leading role, was a nice fairy tale for the Soviet people. 'Stariki-razboyniki', starring Yuriy Nikulin, Evgeniy Evstigneev, and Andrey Mironov was a crime-parody. His extremely popular TV-movie 'Ironiya sidby, ili S lyogkim parom!' (Irony of Fate, 1975 TV) was a big hit of the 70's and later turned into a nostalgic cult. It is shown every New Year's Eve as a tradition in the former Soviet Union. Actors Andrey Myagkov, Yuriy Yakovlev, Barbara Brylska, and Aleksandr Shirvindt are working together as one acting ensemble. Two years later Ryazanov directed another hit, 'Sluzhebny roman' (1977), where Andrei Myagkov made a nice duet with 'Alisa Freindlikh'.
Eldar Ryazanov wrote and directed 'Garazh' (1979). Ryazanov delivers a dazzling array of Soviet characters and situations in this film, ranging from funny, bitter, and sarcastic, to greedy, manipulative, and scary stupid. In somewhat a departure from comedy, Ryazanov brings the theme of "Gulag" prison-camp in 'Vokzal dlya dvoikh' (1982). Still the film is full of Ryazanov's warm humor and also benefits from the performances of Lyudmila Gurchenko and Oleg Basilashvili. 'Ruthless Romance' (1984) is the Ryazanov's adaptation of the 19th century story by 'Aleksandr Ostrovsky'. His latest film is Andersen. Zhizn bez lyubvi (2006).- 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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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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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
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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.- 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.- Director
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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].- 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.- 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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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].- Actor
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Innokenti Smoktunovsky (birth name Smoktunovich) was born in Siberian village of Tatianovka near Tomsk in 1925. There were some speculations that his ancestors were of Polish nobility or of Jewish ethnicity and that they were exiled to Siberia for participating in the January Uprising of 1863. But, according to Smoktunovsky's own words, his ancestors were Belarusian peasants who were sent to Siberia after his grand-grandfather - a guard in the Bialowieza Forest - shot a wisent without permission. His father was killed in WWII. Smoktunovsky was drafted in the Red Army during WWII and was seized by the Nazis as a POW. He was on the road to a concentration camp, but managed to escape from the Nazis. He joined the partisans and served until the end of WWII. After the war he was under suspicion as a former POW and his career was limited to Siberia.
He studied acting for one year at the drama-studio of the Krasnoyarsk Drama Theater (1946). He found employment at the Norilsk Zapolyarny Drama Theater, where his friend and partner was Georgi Zhzhyonov, among other exiled actors. Both friends later starred in 'Beregis avtomobilya (1966)', directed by Eldar Ryazanov. But his film career started with director Mikhail Romm in 'Ubiystvo na ulitse Dante (1956), and in 'Soldaty (1956)' with director 'Aleksandr Ivanov'.
Smoktunovsky was praised by Laurence Olivier for the leading role in 'Hamlet (1964)', a B&W screen version directed by Grigoriy Kozintsev. Leading roles in Tchaikovsky (1969), 'Uncle Vanya (1970)', were among the highlights in film career of this great Russian actor. He worked with Georgi Tovstonogov from 1957-72 on stage of the Bolshoi Drama Theater (BDT) in Leningrad. He later moved to Moscow, where he worked at the Maly Theater and at the Moscow Art Theater (MKHAT). Smoktunovsky wrote an autobiographical book titled "They left me alive", in which he described his survival in Siberia, in WWII, and back again in Siberia, where he started his brilliant acting career.- Director
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Sergei Dvortsevoy was born on 18 August 1962 in Chimkent, Chimkent Oblast, Kazakh SSR, USSR [now Shymkent, South Kazakhstan Region, Kazakhstan]. He is a director and writer, known for Ayka (2018), Bread Day (1998) and Tulpan (2008).- 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.- 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.- Actress
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Lyudmila Gurchenko was a popular actress in the Soviet Union during the 1950s - 1980s, she was best known for Carnival Night (1956), Five Evenings (1979) and Siberiade (1979).
She was born Lyudmila Markovna Gurchenko on 12 November 1935, in Kharkov, Ukrainian Soviet Republic of the USSR. She studied acting at the VGIK (Soviet State Institute for CInema), graduating from the class of Sergey Gerasimov in 1956. That same year she shot to fame in the Soviet Union, aftr delivering a stellar performance as singer Lenochka Krylova in Carnival Night (1956), by director Eldar Ryazanov.
Gurchenko's film partners were such Russian stars, as Oleg Borisov, Sergei Shakurov, Aleksandr Abdulov, Oleg Basilashvili, Mikhail Boyarskiy, Igor Ilyinsky, Yuriy Nikulin, Armen Jigarhanian, Oleg Tabakov, Stanislav Lubshin, Andrey Mironov and Aleksandr Mikhaylov among others.
Lyudmila Gurchenko was married five times and had one daughter with her first husband, Boris Andronikashvili. She died of a pulmonary failure on 30 March 2011, at age 75, and was laid to rest in Moscow, Russia.- Actress
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Alisa Brunovna Freindlikh was born on December 8, 1934, in Leningrad, USSR (now St. Petersburg, Russia). Her father, named Bruno Frejndlikh, was a notable actor. Alisa Freindlikh graduated from Leningrad Institute of Theatre, Music, and Cinematography in 1957.
From 1961-1983 Alisa Freindlikh was a permanent member of the Leningrad Theatre of Lensovet under directorship of her husband Igor Vladimirov. She was the leading star of that theatre and her stage partners were such actors as Georgi Zhzhyonov, Aleksey Petrenko, Sergey Migitsko, Anatoliy Ravikovich, Mikhail Devyatkin, Mikhail Boyarskiy, Larisa Luppian, Galina Nikulina, Vera Ulik, Leonid Dyachkov, Valeri Kuzin, Yefim Kamenetsky, Leila Kirakosian, Aleksandr Estrin, Petr Shelokhonov, and other notable Russian actors.
Alisa Freindlikh made a stellar film career in collaboration with director Eldar Ryazanov. She also brilliantly played a supporting role in A Cruel Romance (1984), a Ryazanov's adaptation of the 19th century story by Aleksandr Ostrovskiy. In 1983 Alisa Freindlikh was designated the People's Artist of the USSR. That same year she divorced from her husband Igor Vladimirov, and soon left the Theatre of Lensovet.
Since 1984 Alisa Freindlikh has been a permanent member of Bolshoi Drama Theatre (BDT) in St. Petersburg (Leningrad) under directorship of Georgi Tovstonogov. There her stage partners were such stars as Kirill Lavrov, Oleg Basilashvili, Lyudmila Makarova, Svetlana Kryuchkova, Zinaida Sharko, Valentina Kovel, Sergey Yurskiy, Nikolay Trofimov, Vladislav Strzhelchik, Evgeniy Lebedev, Georgiy Shtil, Vsevolod Kuznetsov, Vadim Medvedev, Yuriy Demich, Leonid Nevedomsky, Gennadiy Bogachyov, Andrey Tolubeev, and many other notable Russian actors.
In 2004, on her 70th birthday, Alisa Freindlikh was visited in her home by the Russian president Vladimir Putin. She was decorated for her achievements as an actress in film and theatre. Alisa Freindlikh is residing in St. Petersburg, Russia.- 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.- Zinaida Maksimovna Sharko was born on May 14, 1929, in Rostov-na-Donu, Russia, Soviet Union. Her father, named Maksim Sharko, was a firefighter. From 1947-1951 she studied acting under Boris Zon and graduated from the Leningrad Institute of Theatre, Music, and Cinematography. From 1951-1956 she worked as an actress with various theatre companies in Leningrad. Sharko made her film debut in 1954, in 'My s vami gde-to vstrechalis' (We've Met Before Somewhere) as a partner of a famous Russian comedian Arkady Raykin.
Since 1956 Zinaida Sharko has been a permanent member of the legendary troupe of Bolshoi Drama Theatre (BDT) under directorship of Georgi Tovstonogov. Sharko worked with Tovstonogov for 33 years. After the death of Tovstonogov, Sharko continued her work with an outstanding ensemble of actors at BDT. There her stage partners were such stars as Oleg Basilashvili, Tatyana Doronina, Alisa Freyndlikh, Lyudmila Makarova, Svetlana Kryuchkova, Valentina Kovel, Innokentiy Smoktunovskiy, Sergey Yurskiy, Kirill Lavrov, Oleg Borisov, Vladislav Strzhelchik, Yefim Kopelyan, Evgeniy Lebedev, Vsevolod Kuznetsov, Pavel Luspekayev, Nikolay Trofimov, Georgiy Shtil, and many other remarkable Russian actors. Among Sharko's best known stage works are her roles in "Tri sestry" (The Three Sisters) by Anton Chekhov (1968), "Kholstomer" (Story of a Horse) by Lev Tolstoy, and "Revizor" (Inspector-General) by Nikolay Gogol.
Zinaida Sharko continues a busy acting career on stage and in film. Her latest film work was in 'Teatralny Roman', a TV series based on the eponymous book by Mikhail A. Bulgakov. Sharko was honored with the title of People's Artist of the USSR. She received numerous awards and decorations for his works on stage and in film. Her filmography includes over 30 roles, she also played over 100 roles on stage. Sharko is living in St. Petersburg, Russia. - Cinematographer
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Sergei Urusevsky is an Soviet cinematographer best known for his work on the films of the Mikhail Kalatozov.
He started as a painter and photographer studying under the great graphic artist Vladimir Favorsky at the Institute of Fine Art in Moscow. Bringing a pictorial tradition to cinema, Urusevsky started his career with Mark Donskoy on The Village Teacher (1947), Vsevolod Pudovkin on Vasili's Return (1953), and Grigoriy Chukhray on The Forty-First (1956). Urusevsky also served during World War II as a cameraman on the front lines.
With The First Echelon he combined his marvelous visual sense with Kalatozov's breathtaking technical skills - a partnership that made The Cranes Are Flying (1957), Letter Never Sent (1960) and I Am Cuba (1964) landmarks in the history of cinematography. It was with The Cranes Are Flying (1957) where their use of the hand held camera really started, especially with the scene of Veronica running through the streets where the camera finally and miraculously leaps into the air with an overhead shot. It was Urusevsky and Yuri Ilyenko who had profound influence throughout the Soviet film industry - not since the 1920s had Soviet film style been acclaimed throughout the world. Urusevsky's poetic camerawork, no matter how daring, was always an organic search into the emotional possibilities of the script. In 1969 Urusevsky directed Beg inokhodtsa (1969), adapted from the Kirghiz writer Chingiz Aitmatov's short novel. Urusevsky followed this up with Poj pesnyu, poet (1973) based on the poems of Sergei Esenin.- 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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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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Ivan Pyrev was born on 4 November 1901 in Kamen, Tomsk Governorate, Russian Empire [now Kamen-na-Obi, Altayskiy kray, Russia]. He was a director and writer, known for Symphony of Life (1948), They Met in Moscow (1941) and Six P.M. (1944). He was married to Marina Ladynina and Lionella Pyryeva. He died on 7 February 1968 in Moscow, Russian SFSR, USSR [now Russia].- Director
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Aleksandr Askoldov was born on 17 July 1932 in Kiev, Ukraine, USSR. He was a director and actor, known for The Commissar (1967), La chasse aux papillons (1992) and Tal cual (1988). He was married to Svetlana. He died on 21 May 2018 in Gothenburg, Sweden.- Konstantin Lavronenko was born on 20 April 1961 in Rostov-na-Donu, Rostovskaya oblast, RSFSR, USSR [now Russia]. He is an actor, known for The Return (2003), Kajínek (2010) and Coma (2019).
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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.- Actor
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Mikhail Ulyanov was a notable Russian actor and director, who was also an important Soviet political figure, Member of the Central Committe of the Communist Party, Co-Chairman, with Kirill Lavrov, of Theatrical Union of the USSR, and the leader of Vakhtangov Theatre in Moscow, Russia.
He was born Mikhail Aleksandrovich Ulyanov, on November 20, 1927, in the village of Bergamak, Omsk province, Soviet Union. His father, Aleksandr Andreevich Ulyanov, was Chairman of a Soviet collective farm, then Mayor of the town of Tara, Russia. His mother, Elizaveta Mikhailovna Ulyanova, was a homemaker. Young Mikhail Ulyanov enjoyed a rather privileged life during his childhood and youth, because of his father's position in the Soviet Communist Party. Eventually, Ulyanov himself joined the Soviet Communist Party, a move that helped his career. His name was similar to that of the founder of the Soviet Communist Party, Ulyanov-Lenin, a fact that helped Ulyanov to get to play the character of Lenin, the most lucrative stage and film character in the former Soviet Union.
From 1946 - 1950 Ulyanov studied acting at Shchukin Theatrical School of Vakhtangov Theatre in Moscow, under Boris Zakhava, graduating in 1950 as an actor. Since 1950 until his death in 2007, Ulyanov was a permanent member of the troupe at Vakhtangov Drama Theatre. There his stage partners were such actors as Vasiliy Lanovoy, Ruben Simonov, Mikhail Astangov, Boris Zakhava, Varvara Popova, Yuliya Borisova, Lyudmila Maksakova, Lyudmila Tselikovskaya, Marianna Vertinskaya, Nina Ruslanova, Irina Kupchenko, Natalya Tenyakova, Nikolai Plotnikov, Yuriy Yakovlev, Vladimir Etush, Vyacheslav Shalevich, Andrei Abrikosov, Grigori Abrikosov, Boris Babochkin, Nikolai Gritsenko, Nikolai Timofeyev, Aleksandr Grave, Evgeniy Karelskikh, Sergey Makovetskiy, and other notable Russian actors.
In 1987, Mikhail Ulyanov became artistic director of the Vakhtangov Theatre in Moscow. During the course of his career, Ulyanov was closely watched by the Communist Party and also by Ekaterina Furtseva, the most powerful woman in the 1960s - 1970s Soviet Union as Minister of Culture, she ordered Ulyanov to "keep playing Lenin and other role-models" for the Soviet people. Eventually Ulyanov became known for his portrayal of exemplary communists, Soviet-era heroes, and other characters typical of the Soviet propaganda on stage and in film. Ulyanov played the character of Marshal Georgi Zhukov in several Soviet war films. Although, he never met the legendary Marshal Zhukov, Ulyanov became the officially approved impersonator of the famous Soviet military leader. Ulyanov's facial expression closely resembled that of Marshal Georgi Zhukov, so Ulyanov's face was used as a model for the monument to Zhukov in Moscow.
With the official recognition in the roles as Lenin and Zhukov, Ulyanov was granted more flexibility in his artistic choices, he enjoyed the privilege of playing several roles that opened the true range of his acting talent. In 1970 Ulyanov played one of his best roles ever as General Charnota, a White Russian émigré, in Beg (1971), an epic film by directors Alov and Naumov. In 1979, a few years after the death of actor-director Vasiliy Shukshin, Ulyanov directed a stage production of Shukshin's unfinished project "Ya prishel dat vam volyu" (aka.. I came to let you free). In that production, Ulyanov played the leading role as Stepan Razin, Russian historic hero of the 17 century, who was the Cossac leader of a major popular uprising against the Russian Tzar, and was brutally executed by the Russian government at the Red Square in Moscow.
During the political changes in the 1980s Soviet Union, Ulyanov was critical of dramatic social shifts caused by "perestroika" and "glasnost" initiated by Mikhail Gorbachev. However, Ulyanov continued playing the character of V. I. Lenin in numerous productions on stage and on Soviet National television. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, he expressed his disappointment with the drastic socio-economic changes and cultural chaos in the post-Soviet Russia. He played a number of patriotic, violent and controversial characters in several films made during the post-Soviet era. During the 2000s, Ulyanov used his star power to help his less fortunate colleagues in Russian Theatrical Union. He also supported the politics of Russian President.
From 1976 - 1990, Ulyanov served as Permanent Member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the USSR. In the course of his acting career spanning over 50 years, Ulyanov received numerous Soviet and Russian awards and decorations, such as the Order of Lenin (twice), Order of October Revolution, and was awarded Lenin's Prize and State Prize of the USSR. He died of a heart failure on March 26, 2007, in Moscow, and was laid to rest in Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow, Russia.- 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.- Actor
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Pyotr Mamonov was born on 14 April 1951 in Moscow, RSFSR, USSR [now Russia]. He was an actor and director, known for The Island (2006), Shapito-shou: Lyubov i druzhba (2011) and Taxi Blues (1990). He was married to Olga Ivanovna Mamonova and ???. He died on 15 July 2021 in Kommunarka, Moscow, Russia.- Cinematographer
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Eduard Tisse was born on 13 April 1897 in Libava, Grobina uyezd, Courland Governorate, Russian Empire [now Liepaja, Latvia]. He was a cinematographer and director, known for Ivan the Terrible, Part I (1944), Battleship Potemkin (1925) and The Immortal Garrison (1956). He died on 18 November 1961 in Moscow, Russian SFSR, USSR [now Russia].- Iya Savvina is a Soviet and Russian actress of Moscow Art Theatre (MKhAT).
She was born Iya Sergeevna Savvina on March 2, 1936, in Voronezh, Russia, Soviet Union (now Russia). From 1954 - 1958 she studied Journalism at Moscow University, graduating in 1958 as a journalist. While a student, Savvina was active in student drama club of Moscow University. There she was spotted by casting directors from Lenfilm studios and made her film debut in Leningrad: Savvina shot to fame with the leading role opposite Aleksey Batalov in The Lady with the Dog (1960) by director Iosif Kheifits. From 1960 - 1977 Iya Savvina was member of the Mossoveta theatre in Moscow. There her stage partners were such actors as Rostislav Plyatt, Georgi Zhzhyonov, and Aleksandr Lazarev among others.
Since 1977 Iya Savvina has been a permanent member of the troupe at Moscow Art Theatre (MKhAT). There her stage partners were such renown Russian actors as Olga Androvskaya, Angelina Stepanova, Mark Prudkin, Anastasiya Georgievskaya, Vasili Toporkov, Mikhail Bolduman, Pavel Massalsky, and the next generation of MKhAT actors - Oleg Efremov, Tatyana Doronina, Innokentiy Smoktunovskiy, Oleg Tabakov, Alla Pokrovskaya, Kira Golovko, Tatyana Lavrova, Iya Savvina, Nina Gulyaeva, Elena Panova, Darya Moroz, Olga Litvinova, Natalya Rogozhkina, Ekaterina Semyonova, Olga Yakovleva, Raisa Maksimova, Irina Miroshnichenko, Evgeniya Dobrovolskaya, Kristina Babushkina, Anastasiya Voznesenskaya, Andrey Myagkov, Stanislav Lyubshin, Vladimir Kashpur, Vladlen Davydov, Viktor Sergachyov, Vyacheslav Nevinnyy, Evgeniy Kindinov, Vladimir Krasnov, Sergei Desnitsky, Dmitriy Nazarov, Sergey Sazontev, Avangard Leontev, Igor Vasilev, Igor Vernik, Sergei Sosnovsky, Mikhail Porechenkov, Konstantin Khabenskiy, Valeri Khlevinsky, Aleksei Agapov, Valeriy Troshin, Mikhail Trukhin, Eduard Chekmazov, Aleksey Kravchenko, and Evgeniy Mironov among others. In the 1970s - 1990s Savvina made her best known stage appearances in Anton Chekhov's classic plays. She shone as Anfisa in 'Tri Sestry' (aka.. The Three Sisters), and as Sharlotta in 'Vishnevy sad' (aka.. The Cherry Orchard). She also made acclaimed performances as Sofia opposite Natalya Tenyakova in 'Rozhdestvenskie grezy' (aka.. Christmas dreams) by director Pyotr Shteyn, and as Khlestova in Aleksandr Griboyedov's 'Gore ot Uma' (aka.. Woe From Wit).
Iya Savvina was designated People's Actress of the USSR. She was awarded the State Prize of the USSR twice (1983, 1990), and received numerous awards from the Soviet and Russian government. - Actor
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Rolan Bykov was born on 12 November 1929 in Kiev, Ukrainian SSR, USSR [now Ukraine]. He was an actor and director, known for Chuchelo (1984), Aybolit-66 (1967) and Andrei Rublev (1966). He was married to Elena Sanaeva. He died on 6 October 1998 in Moscow, Russia.- Actor
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Boris Babochkin was internationally recognized star of Russian cinema who played the title role in the classic film Chapaev (1934) and later played a sharp anti-communist character on stage in Moscow, for which he was ostracized and censored by the Soviet Communist Party.
He was born Boris Andreevich Babochkin on January 18, 1904, in the city of Saratov on Volga river in Russia. In 1920 he moved to Moscow and enrolled in the Drama School of Michael Chekhov. Babochkin admired Michael Chekhov, but soon he left Chekhov's school for "Molodye Mastera" studio, directed by Illarion Pevtsov. There, with his elder brother Vitaly Babochkin, he worked his first professional season on stage in 1921. In the following six years Boris Babochkin played seasonal gigs on stage with various troupes in Moscow and Saratov, then Samarkand and Bishkek in Central Asia, and then in Voronesh, then in Mogilev in Belarus, and in Berdichev in Ukraine. From 1927 to 1940 he lived and worked in Leningrad. There he made his film debut in 1927. In 1934 he played the leading role in Chapaev (1934), a classic film that brought him global fame and local jealousy. He played leading roles at the Leningrad State Puskin Drama Theater and at the Bolshoi Drama Theater under directorship of his friend Aleksei Dikij. In 1937 Aleksei Dikij was arrested and imprisoned in the Gulag camps. Babochkin was hurt, but stepped in as artistic director of the Bolshoi Drama Theater (BDT) in Leningrad.
In 1940 Babochkin moved back to Moscow. During the WWII he made several trips to Leningrad, besieged by the Nazis, where he supported the defenders of the city and lifted their spirits with his performances. In 1952 Babochkin became the artistic director of the Moscow Pushkin Drama Theater. There he invited Aleksei Dikij to direct "Shadows" (a play by Saltykov-Shchedrin). In "Shadows" Babochkin played one of his best roles ever - Klaverov, a corrupt career politician, resembling of a typical Soviet bureaucrat. For that work Babochkin was viciously attacked in the main Soviet newspaper "Pravda" by none other than Ekaterina Furtseva, who was then a Mayor of Moscow and later was made Soviet Minister of Culture and eventually committed suicide. Furtseva became enraged with Babochkin's satirical portrayal of a Soviet bureaucrat with allusions to the Soviet leadership. She banned the play, and restricted the world famous actor, Babochkin, from public performances and kept him virtually unemployed for three years until he was finally forced to repent to the Communist Party. Official Soviet censorship spared no effort in taming the famous actor and manipulating his star power by limiting him to playing only positive, boring, exemplary Soviet characters. The rare exception was his last role in Begstvo mistera Mak-Kinli (1975) for which he was awarded the State Prize. From 1955 up until his death in 1975 Babochkin was permanent member of the troupe at Maly Theatre in Moscow. From 1946 - 1975 he also taught an acting class at State Film Institute (VGIK), where he became a professor in 1966. In his acting career spanning over 55 years, Babochkin played over 200 roles on stage. He played over 25 roles in movies and on television, but Chapaev (1934) remained the unsurpassed highlight of his film career.
Boris Babochkin was the youngest actor designated People's Artist of Russia (1935). He was three times awarded the State Prize of the USSR (1941, 1951, and 1977 posthumously). He was married to Ekaterina Mikhailovna Babochkina, and the couple had two daughters, Natalia and Tatiana. Boris Babochkin died of a heart attack while driving his "Volga" on July 17, 1975, in Moscow, and was laid to rest in Novodevichy Convent Cemetery in Moscow, Russia.- Cinematographer
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Anatoli Golovnya was born on 2 February 1900 in Simferopol, Taurida Governorate, Russian Empire [now Crimea, Ukraine]. He was a cinematographer and director, known for Admiral Nakhimov (1947), Zhukovsky (1950) and Velikie budni (1931). He died on 25 June 1982 in Moscow, RSFSR, USSR [now Russia].- Actress
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Marina Ladynina was born on 24 June 1908 in Skotinino, Smolensk Governorate, Russian Empire [now Russia]. She was an actress, known for Cossacks of the Kuban (1950), They Met in Moscow (1941) and Six P.M. (1944). She was married to Ivan Pyrev. She died on 8 March 2003 in Moscow, Russia.- Actor
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Vladimir Lvovich Mashkov was born in Tula, to Natalia, a puppet theatre director, and Lev Mashkov, an actor. He worked for Oleg Tabakov's theatre where he performed in Alexander Galich's "My Big Land", Neil Simon's "Biloxy Blues", Nickolai Gogol's "The Inspector General", Jean-Batiste Moliere's "Don Juan", and other plays. As a director, he staged "A Star Hour By Local Time", "Passions For Bumbarash", "The Death-Defying Act" and Bertolt Brecht's "The Threepenny Opera".- Actor
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Nikolay Burlyaev is a Soviet and Russian actor. He was born into a family of actors, Burlyayev started his career in film and theatre when he was still a child. He is best known for his title role in Andrei Tarkovsky's Ivan's Childhood (1962). He worked with Tarkovsky again four years later, as Boriska in Andrei Rublev.
Burlyayev films include Wartime Romance (1983) and Lermontov (1986), where he played the lead.
Since 1991 Burlyayev has been the founder and director of the annual Zolotoi Vityaz (Golden Knight) Moscow Film Festival of Slavic and Orthodox Peoples, and since 1996 he has been the founder and chairman of the International Association of Cinematographers of Slavic and Orthodox Peoples.
He is married to actress and film director Natalya Bondarchuk.- Mayya Bulgakova was an Honored Artist of the RSFSR (1969), People's Artist of the RSFSR (7.01.1977). The parents named the girl Mayya because she was born on May 19. Her father was a military man. Besides her, there were three children in the family - two brothers and a sister. Mayya's happy childhood ended on June 22, 1941. Grigory Bulgakov went to the front, followed by his eldest son Boris. They died almost simultaneously, in August of the 41st. The family experienced all the horror of the first days of the war. Fleeing from the Nazis, the Bulgakov family reached Kramatorsk. Here lived Mayya's aunt, who worked at the plant. The Germans were very close, the plant was urgently evacuated to Siberia. With the factory workers, the Mayya's family also went to the evacuation to remote Irkutsk. Siberia warmed the evacuees, did not let to die, but as soon as the Soviet troops liberated Kramatorsk, the Bulgakovs returned to their homeland. There, Mayya graduated from high school. Mayya decided to try her luck to become an actress. She came to Moscow and entered VGIK (workshop of Boris Bibikov and Olga Pyzhova). In 1955 she received a diploma with honors and in the same year she received an offer by director Grigory Roshal to appear in the film "Volnitsa". About Bulgakova talked as about a gifted actress. She did not have to suffer without roles. Maya Bulgakova worked easily, with enthusiasm, the directors were always happy with her, but one by one they invited Bulgakov ... to an episode. Actress, starring mainly in small roles, waited for her time and in full power revealed her talent in Larisa Shepitko's film "Wings." She died after a car accident on October 7, 1994. She was buried in the 6th section of the Rakitki cemetery (Moscow), next to her husband, whom she survived only for three months.
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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.- Vera Baranovskaya was born on 7 March 1885 in St. Petersburg, Russian Empire [now Russia]. She was an actress, known for Mother (1926), Takový je zivot (1930) and Konets Sankt-Peterburga (1927). She died on 7 December 1935 in Paris, France.
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Vladimir Vysotsky was an iconic Russian actor, singer-songwriter and public figure, who wrote over 700 songs and gave over 2000 public and private performances as an anti-establishment singer of the 60s and 70s in the former Soviet Union. He was one of the Soviet Union's boldest and most celebrated actors who promoted individual freedom and helped lift Russian youth out of the state of apathy and fear under the Soviet dictator Brezhnev. In the movies, Vysotsky was best known as nifty detective Zheglov in The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed (1979) by director Stanislav Govorukhin.
He was born Vladimir Semenovich Vysotsky on 25 January 1938, in Moscow, then the capital of the Soviet Union. His father, Semen Volfovich Vysotsky, was Jewish; he served in the Red Army during WWII, and was decorated for his courage rising to the rank of a Colonel. His mother, Nina Maximovna Seregina, was Russian; she worked as Russian-German interpreter. During WWII, Vladimir Vysotsky with his mother escaped from the advancing Nazis by evacuation from Moscow to Orenburg province in Siberia. After the war, the parents divorced and he was living with his father and stepmother in a Soviet Military garrison in East Germany. There, from 1947 to 1949, Vladimir Vysotsky was taking piano lessons; he also became an avid movie watcher.
Upon returning to Moscow in the fall of 1949, he settled on Bolshoi Karetny, and went to the all-boys school No 186, from which he graduated in 1955. While at school, he attended the drama class of V. Bogomolov, an actor of the Moscow Art Theatre. From 1956 to 1960, he studied acting under Pavel Massalsky and Boris Vershilov at the Moscow Art Theatre Studio, graduating in 1960 as actor. He briefly worked at Moscow Pushkin Drama, then joined the troupe at the Taganka Theatre. Vysotsky made his film debut in Sverstnitsy (1959).
In 1961, in Leningrad, during filming of 713 prosit posadku (1962) Vladimir Vysotsky met actress Lyudmila Abramova who became his wife and mother of his two sons Arkady Vysotsky (born 1962) and Nikita Vysotskiy (born 1964). He was later married to the French-Russian actress Marina Vlady. During the 70s, he toured all over the former USSR and also made stage appearances in France, USA, Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Yugoslavia.
Breaking all traditions, Vysotsky appeared as Hamlet with the guitar in the Shakespare's play directed by Yuriy Lyubimov. Vysotsky's Hamlet, dressed as a contemporary young man and playing his guitar, shook the Moscow establishment by overthrowing the traditional interpretation of the Shakespearean character. Vysotsky's shows was always sold out, and tickets to his performances were the most demanded "currency" in Moscow.
His opposition to Soviet authorities resulted in periodic bans of his songs. In 1968 Vysotsky wrote an open letter to the leading Soviet newspaper "Pravda" asking for fairness and equal rights; he requested that the official ban on his songs shall be lifted. That same year the first official recording of Vysotsky's songs from the film Vertikal (1966) was released on Melodia label and quickly became the best-selling record in the Soviet Union. However, the Soviet authorities stubbornly suppressed Vysotsky's film and music career, causing him much moral pain and suffering.
During the late 60s and 70s Vysotsky had problems with drugs and alcohol and suffered of a severe heart disorder which sent him into cardiac arrests on several occasions. In one case, his wife, Marina Vlady, noticed that he collapsed at home and saved his life by calling an ambulance, so he was hospitalized. He died while asleep at his home in Moscow, on 25 July, 1980. His death caused a considerable mourning in Russia. Thousands lined up to attend his funeral at Vagankovskoe Cemetery in Moscow. His numerous fans across Russia and the world continue the tradition of memorial concerts and gatherings on the 25th of July every year. His flower-adorned grave is a site of pilgrimage for his fans.
Vladimir Vysotsky's remarkable voice and style has been a lasting influence on many of Russia's actors and musicians. Though he was ostracized by the Soviet officialdom, he achieved remarkable fame during his lifetime, and remains a towering figure in Russian popular culture. Among his most notable followers and devotees are Mikhail Boyarskiy and Yuriy Shevchuk.- Irina Kupchenko is a Russian actress known for the role as Lisa in A Nest of Gentry (1969) by director Andrey Konchalovskiy.
She was born Irina Petrovna Kupchenko on March 1, 1948, in Vienna, Austria. Her father, Petr Kupchenko, was a Soviet Army officer stationed in Vienna; her mother was a teacher of English. Her parents insisted that her actual birthday, 29th of February of the leap year 1948, was changed to the 1st of March. Young Kupchenko was raised in Kiev, Ukraine. There she studied languages at Kiev University, then moved to Moscow. From 1967 - 1970 she studied acting under M. Ter-Zakharova at the Shchukin Theatrical School of Vakhtangov Theatre in Moscow, graduating in 1970 as an actress.
In 1969 Kupchenko shot to fame with her film debut as Lisa in A Nest of Gentry (1969) by director Andrey Konchalovskiy. She made a stellar film career in collaboration with Andron Konchalovsky, and also appeared in films by such directors as Ilya Averbakh, Yuli Raizman, Vadim Abdrashitov, Eldar Ryazanov, and Nikita Mikhalkov. During the 1970s - 1990s she was among the most popular actresses of the former Soviet Union. Kupchenko co-starred opposite such actors as Innokentiy Smoktunovskiy, Mikhail Ulyanov, Aleksey Batalov, Vasili Lanovoy, Sergey Bondarchuk, Oleg Yankovsky, and Aleksandr Zbruev, among many others.
Since 1970 Irina Kupchenko has been member of the troupe at Vakhtangov Theatre in Moscow. There his stage partners were such actors as Mikhail Ulyanov, Vasiliy Lanovoy, Yuliya Borisova, Lyudmila Maksakova, Lyudmila Tselikovskaya, Marianna Vertinskaya, Nina Ruslanova, Elena Dobronravova, Nikolai Plotnikov, Yuriy Yakovlev, Vladimir Etush, Vyacheslav Shalevich, Andrei Abrikosov, Grigori Abrikosov, Nikolai Gritsenko, Nikolai Timofeyev, Aleksandr Grave, Evgeni Fedorov, Vladimir Koval, Viktor Zozulin, Evgeniy Karelskikh, Aleksandr Koznov, Vladimir Vdovichenkov, Sergey Makovetskiy, Mikhail Vaskov, Mariya Aronova, Elena Sotnikova, Anna Dubrovskaya, Olga Tumaykina, Aleksei Kuznetsov, and Viktor Dobronravov, among others.
He most memorable stage performances included such roles as Octavia in the Shakespeare's 'Antony and Cleopatra' (1970s), as Dolly in 'Anna Karenina' (1970s), and as Lady Anna in the Shakespeare's 'Richard III', among other plays. In 1994 Kupchenko created the character of Clodia Pulcher in 'Martovskie Idy' (aka.. Ides of March) adaptation of the eponymous novel by Thornton Wilder. Since the 2001 premiere of 'Cyrano de Bergerac' Kupchenko has been delivering critically acclaimed performances as Roxana opposite Maksim Sukhanov. She also appears in stage production of "Svobodnaya lyubov" (aka.. Free love) at La'Teatr in Moscow.
Irina Kupchenko was designated People's Actor of Russia. She was a professor of acting at the Shchukin Theatrical School of the Vakhtangov Theatre. Irina Kupchenko is married to actor Vasiliy Lanovoy, and the couple has two sons. She is living with her family in Moscow, Russia. - Actor
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Andrey Smirnov was born on 12 March 1941 in Moscow, RSFSR, USSR [now Russia]. He is an actor and producer, known for Zhila-byla odna baba (2011), A Frenchman (2019) and Dnevnik ego zheny (2000).- Actor
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Born 8 November 1960 as Oleg Evgenyevich Menshikov in Serpukhov, USSR (now in Russia). His father was a military engineer and his mother was a doctor. During his childhood he attended music school where he learned to play piano and violin. Later he studied in the Mikhail Shchepkin Higher Theatre School in Moscow. His debut was the television movie Zhdu i nadeyus (1980). In the early 1990s he spent some time in London playing in the Globe Theatre. For his performance as Sergei Yesenin in When She Danced he received the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. His best known role is Mitya in the Oscar-winning historical movie Burnt by the Sun (1994). He went on to star in internationally co-produced movies, such as The Barber of Siberia (1998) and East/West (1999) as well as in adaptations of Russian literature, such as Statskiy sovetnik (2005) and Doktor Zhivago (2006). In 2005 he married actress Anastasia Chernova. He returned to the role of Mitya for two sequels: Burnt by the Sun 2 (2010) and Utomlennye solntsem 2 (2011). Since 2012 he's been the artistic director of the Yermolova Theatre in Moscow.- Andrey Myagkov, one of Russia's most familiar faces and a leading actor of the Moscow Art Theatre (MXAT) who starred in the 1970's comedy The Irony of Fate, or Enjoy Your Bath! (1976), made a comeback in the sequel The Irony of Fate 2 (2007).
He was born Andrey Vasilevich Myagkov on July 8, 1938, in Leningrad, Russia, USSR (now St. Petersburg, Russia). His father, Vasiliy Myagkov, was a professor at the Polytechnical Academy. Young Andrey was fond of theatre and was involved in the drama club at his high school. However, he focused on the study of chemistry and attended the Leningrad Institute of Technology, graduating in 1960 as a chemical engineer. His first job was as a research engineer at the Leningrad State Institute of Plastics, although at the same time he continued playing on stage as an amateur actor.
In 1961 he was admitted to the acting school of the Moscow Art Theatre (MXAT) in Leningrad. Then he moved to Moscow and studied at the Theatrical School of the Moscow Art Theatre (MXAT), graduating in 1965 as an actor. At that time he married actress Anastasiya Voznesenskaya. From 1965 to 1977 he was a member of the troupe at the Sovremennik Theatre in Moscow. There his stage partners were such actors as Oleg Efremov, Evgeniy Evstigneev, Galina Volchek, Stanislav Lyubshin, Anatoliy Romashin, Alla Pokrovskaya, Oleg Tabakov, Oleg Dal, Igor Kvasha, Valentin Gaft, and other notable Russian actors.
In 1977 he became a member of the troupe at the Moscow Art Theatre (MXAT). There he made his stage debut in the leading role as Zilov in "Utinaya okhota" ("Duck Hunting") by Aleksandr Vampilov, and eventually established himself as a leading actor in other stage productions at the MXAT. His stage partners there were such actors as Innokentiy Smoktunovskiy, Yekaterina Vasilyeva, Tatyana Doronina, Oleg Efremov, Evgeniy Evstigneev, Oleg Tabakov, Aleksandr Kalyagin, Andrei Popov, and other notable Russian actors. Since the split of the troupe in 1987, he has been a member of the Chekhov Moscow Art Theatre (Chekhov MXAT), named after Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. His stage partners there have been such notable Russian actors as Alla Pokrovskaya, Natalya Rogozhkina, Anastasiya Voznesenskaya, Irina Miroshnichenko, Iya Savvina, Stanislav Lyubshin, Vyacheslav Nevinnyy, Evgeniy Kindinov, Viktor Sergachyov, and Vladimir Kashpur, among others.
He made his film debut in the leading role as a dentist in Pokhozhdeniya zubnogo vracha (1965), by director Elem Klimov. He established himself with such roles as the monk Alyosha in The Brothers Karamazov (1969), then as Khlebnikov, an obsessed chess grandmaster, in Grossmeyster (1973) where he had several scenes with Lyudmila Kasatkina, Anatoly Solonitsyn, Mikhail Kozakov, Petr Shelokhonov, and other notable Russian actors.. He shot to fame in the Soviet Union with the leading role as Zhenya in The Irony of Fate, or Enjoy Your Bath! (1976), by director Eldar Ryazanov. His fruitful collaboration with Ryazanov continued in Office Romance (1977), The Garage (1980), and A Cruel Romance (1984). Andrey has played over 50 roles in film and on television. He declined offers to play in such modern Russian films as Night Watch (2004) and The Turkish Gambit (2005). However, he made a comeback reprising his most famous role as Zhenya opposite Barbara Brylska in The Irony of Fate 2 (2007), a sequel to the Soviet comedy The Irony of Fate, or Enjoy Your Bath! (1976).
In 1989, he made his directorial debut with a stage production of "Spokoynoy nochi, Mama" ("Good Night, Mama") at the Moscow Art Theatre (MXAT). In 2002 he directed the MXAT production of "Retro", a nostalgic play about three middle-aged women courting one man; the play earned him wide public acclaim, although evoking sharp criticism from some contemporary Moscow critics. His last directorial work for the Moscow Art Theatre was a 2006 production of "Osenniy charlston" ("Autumn Charleston") based on the play "The Cemetery Club" by American playwright Ivan Menchell.
He was awarded the State Prize of the USSR in 1977, the Brothers Vasiliev State Prize in 1979, was designated a People's Artist of Russia in 1986, and also received several other significant awards and nominations. Outside of his acting profession, Andrey Myagkov painted portraits, and his paintings are owned by Mikhail Gorbachev and Galina Volchek, among others.
Andrey Vasilevich Myagkov died on 18 February 2021 in Moscow and was laid to rest in Troekurovskoe Cemetery in Moscow, Russia. - 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.- Nikolai Petrovich Batalov was born on December 6, 1899, in Moscow, Russia, into the family of a clerk. From 1910-1915 he studied at the Moscow Mercantile School named after the Czar Aleksander III. His interest in theatre and literature was supported by his grandmother, who encouraged his voracious reading. In 1916, he started his acting career at the Moscow Art Theatre under Konstantin Stanislavski and Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko. At the same time he worked at the MKhAT-2, where his partner and artistic director was Michael Chekhov. Nikolai Batalov's first stage work was the role of 'Petia-the bookbinder' in the play 'Zelenoe Koltso' (The Green Ring 1916) by Zinaida Gippius. His best remembered stage work was the title role in the Moscow Art Theatre's classic production 'Zhenitba Figaro', where Susanna was brilliantly played by his wife Olga Androvskaya.
He made his film debut in silent film as Gusev in Aelita, the Queen of Mars (1924) directed by Yakov Protazanov, then as Pavel Vlasov in Mother (1926) directed by Vsevolod Pudovkin, an adaptation of the eponymous book by Maxim Gorky. His leading role in the notable silent film-comedy 'Tretya meshchanskaya' (1927) by writer-director Abram Room had a significant critical and public success. At that time Batalov suffered from the onset of progressive form of tuberculosis, which interrupted his stage career, but he still worked in film. His best known film role was Nikolai Sergeiev in Road to Life (1931) directed by the Latvian writer/director Nikolai Ekk, who won the Most Convincing Director Award at the Venice Film Festival (1932). The film was produced under the leadership of Osip Brik, who introduced Nikolay Batalov to the prototype of his film character, the head of the real Russian juvenile correction colony Pogrebinsky. After this role Nikolay Batalov was awarded and received the title of the Honorable Actor of Russia in 1933.
Nikolai Batlov was suffering from the progressive form of tuberculosis. The disease limited his mobility and affected his acting career in the mid 1930s. He was undergoing the best treatment available then; he was sent to convalesce at the Russian Black Sea resort for patients with tuberculosis, but doctors still recommended that he should be treated in Europe, where tuberculosis was treated with better results. The rigid Soviet system did not allow Batalov to go abroad for the foreign medical help. He died on November 19, 1937, in Moscow.
Batalov was married to actress Olga Androvskaya (nee Schulz). She was the leading actress of the Moscow Art Theatre and also a stage partner of Batalov, and a distinguished film actress. They had a daughter, Svetlana Nikolaevna Batalova, who also became an actress of the Moscow Art Theatre (MKhAT). - 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.- Actress
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Elena Solovey is a Russian-American film and stage actress best known for her works with director Nikita Mikhalkov.
She was born Elena Yakovlevna Solovey on February 24, 1947, in Neustrelitz, East Germany. Her parents met in Berlin at the end of the Second World War. Her father, Yakov Solovey, was an artillery officer in the Red Army. Her mother was a medical nurse. Young Elena Solovey lived in Germany until the age of 4, then moved to Novosibirsk, Siberian Russia, where her father continued his military career, then moved to Moscow.
Elena Solovey had a dream of becoming an actress. She was fond of art, music, films and theatre, and attended a school of music in addition to her high school. Eventually she became a music teacher at a Moscow school, after failing to enter the Soviet State Institute of Cinema (VGIK). However, she was persistent and determined in pursuit of her dream, and a year later, she was admitted to VGIK, studied at the acting class of Boris Babochkin, graduating in 1970 as an actress.
Elena Solovey made her film debut in short films during the 1960s, while a VGIK student. In 1969 she played her first serious role as Clarice in Korol-olen (1970) by director Pavel Arsyonov. In 1970 she was invited to the troupe of Maly Theatre in Moscow. There Solovey was cast as Nina in "The Seagull" by Chekhov, albeit she followed her heart and married a Leningrad artist, Yuri Pugach, and the couple settled in Leningrad. There Solovey worked at Lenfilm Studios.
During the 1970s Solovey played her best known roles, such as Olga Vosnesenskaya (alluding to Vera Kholodnaya), opposite Rodion Nakhapetov in A Slave of Love (1976), as Sofia opposite Aleksandr Kalyagin in Unfinished Piece for the Player Piano (1977), and as Olga opposite Oleg Tabakov in A Few Days from the Life of I.I. Oblomov (1980), all films by director Nikita Mikhalkov.
From 1983 - 1991 Elena Solovey was member of the troupe at Theatre of Lensoveta in St. Petersburg (Leningrad), Russia. There she appeared in leading and supporting roles in Russian and international stage production. Her last work on stage in St. Petersburg was the acclaimed production of "Foto-finish" written and directed by Peter Ustinov. There director Peter Ustinov cast Elena Solovey as a co-star opposite Petr Shelokhonov as the male lead, supported by Anna Aleksakhina, Roman Gromadsky, and other notable Russian actors.
In the fall of 1991, Solovey emigrated from Russia, and settled in New Jersey with her husband, two children and a grand-daughter. She appeared in Russian films, worked for Russian radio in New York and played in several stage productions of "Bluzhdayushcie zvezdy" (aka.. "Wandering stars") troupe at the Russian area of Brighton Beach. In 2007 she appeared in supporting role as Kalina in We Own the Night (2007), a criminal drama about the Russian mafia.
Elena Solovey was designated People's Actor of Russia. Since 1990s she has been teaching children of Russian emigrants at "Etude" acting school in New Jersey, USA.- Actor
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Oleg Valerianovich Basilashvili was born on September 26, 1934, in Moscow, USSR. His father, named Valerian Basilashvili, was a director of the Moscow Polytechnical College. His mother, named Irina Ilyinskaya, was a teacher of linguistics.
His father made up a story that his grandfather was a Colonel in the Imperial Army of the Tsar Nicholas II, then married a Polish lady, and settled down, becoming a policeman. He also fabricated a story that grandfather once arrested a dangerous criminal, named Dzhugashvili, who was really Joseph Stalin. In reality Basilashvili's maternal grandfather was a Russian orthodox priest and an architect, who participated in the construction of the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow. During the Second World War young Oleg Basilashvili was evacuated from Moscow to the Transcaucasian republic of Georgia. There went to a primary school and lived with his paternal grandfather until the end of WWII.
In 1956 Oleg Basilashvili graduated from the Acting School of the Moscow Art Theatre. He made his film debut as a young groom in 'Nevesta' (The Bride, 1956) by director Grigori Nikulin, based on a story by Anton Chekhov. At that time together with his first wife, Tatyana Doronina, Basilashvili joined the troupe at the Bolshoi Drama Theatre (BDT) in St. Petersburg (then Leningrad) under the leadership of the legendary director Georgi Tovstonogov. Since 1959 Basilashvili has been a permanent member of the troupe at the BDT in St. Petersburg. There his stage partners were such stars as Kirill Lavrov, Tatyana Doronina, Alisa Freyndlikh, Lyudmila Makarova, Svetlana Kryuchkova, Zinaida Sharko, Valentina Kovel, Innokentiy Smoktunovskiy, Sergey Yurskiy, and many other remarkable Russian actors. Basilashvili's most memorable stage works were in 'Gore ot Uma' by the playwright Aleksandr Griboyedov, 'Uncle Vanya', a play by Anton Chekhov, 'Kholstomer', based on story by Lev Tolstoy, 'Na Dne', a play by Maxim Gorky, and other classic plays, directed by Georgi Tovstonogov at the BDT in St. Petersburg.
Oleg Basilashvili has been one of the favorite actors of film director Eldar Ryazanov. They collaborated in such popular films as Sluzhebny Roman (1977), Vokzal Dlya Dvoikh (1982), Nebesa obetovannye (1991), and Predskazanie (1993), which became significant box-office hits. His film partners were Alisa Freyndlikh, Lyudmila Gurchenko, Nikita Mikhalkov, Nonna Mordyukova, Evgeniy Leonov, Natalya Gundareva, and many other Russian film actors.
One of his most famous film works was made in collaboration with director Georgiy Daneliya in a remarkable film Autumn Marathon (1979). The film is a cross-genre comedy and melodrama with a bitter humor and satire of the Soviet life. In it Basilashvili plays a man in his mid-life crisis, who is torn between two nice women, his wife and his mistress, and all three of them become entangled in the game of lies and personal demands, being at the same time strangled by the stagnant Soviet reality. Basilashvili co-created a memorable acting ensemble with such actors, as Natalya Gundareva, Evgeniy Leonov, Marina Neyolova, and Nikolay Kryuchkov. The film became a Soviet classic, and director Georgiy Daneliya was awarded at International film festivals in Berlin and San Sebastian.
Oleg Basilashvili made a comeback with an impressive performance in the role of Woland in Master i Margarita (2005), an adaptation of the eponymous novel of Mikhail A. Bulgakov by director Vladimir Bortko. In his own words, Basilashvili played the character of Woland in resemblance of an authoritarian and manipulative bureaucrat, alluding to a Soviet-era dictator. Basilashvili created a powerful interplay with a stellar ensemble of actors, such as Aleksandr Abdulov, Kirill Lavrov, Anna Kovalchuk, Aleksandr Galibin, and other notable Russian actors.
Oleg Basilashvili received the title of People's Artist of the USSR. He was awarded the State Prize of the Soviet Union and was decorated by the Russian government. Basilashvili was elected the representative of Leningrad (St. Petersburg) in 1990. He was a supporter of president Boris Yeltsin and a member of the parliamentary group of democratic representatives. Oleg Basilashvili was a proponent of returning the original name to the city of St. Petersburg. He quit politics after 2000, and focused on his acting career.
Basilashvili is currently residing in St. Petersburg, Russia, with his second wife, Galina Mshanskaya, who is a popular TV show hostess.- Actor
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Vladimir Menshov was a Russian director and actor, noted for his depiction of the Russian everyman and working class life in his films. Born on September, 17, 1937 in Baku (then USSR, now the territory of Azerbaijan), like many Russian directors and actors Menshov studied at the state film school VGIK. Although his filmography as an actor is superior to that as director (actually confined to only five movies), he will be remembered most of all for his second film as director, Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears (1980), one of the most popular and beloved films in Russia, starring his wife Vera Alentova. The film brought him international recognition and the Oscar for the Best Foreign Film. Menshov did not attend the Academy Awards ceremony personally because he could not leave the country due to some problems of political nature, and the prize statuette was accepted by the USSR Commissioner to the U.S. The film itself is a moving story of three girlfriends who arrive in Moscow in search for a better life. A great melodrama in the first place, on a close analysis, the film can be seen as a biography of a whole generation since in the late 1970s, young people who abandoned their provincial towns with no opportunities for good jobs and strove to settle in the Russian capital.
In 1999, the 20th anniversary of the film's original release was celebrated at a series of events around Russia. Another film, an immensely popular comedy of manners Love and Doves (1985), was about a rural farmer peasant falling in love with a glamor urban lady. It ensured that his career continued to glitter. In the decade that followed he refrained from directing and in his rare interviews was very critical of the cinema industry. In 1995 he made Shirli-myrli (1995) - a very long extravaganza satirizing practically every aspect of cultural and political life in Russia. The film showed that these "off the job" years had not affected his talent. Zavist bogov (2000) - a nostalgic drama - demonstrated his longing for the Soviet era life style. Although criticized by some for "being too simple", Menshov was affectionately loved by ordinary cinema-goers who saw him as one of a very few directors capable of creating a perfect comedy or drama out of a down-to-earth situation.- Actor
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- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Oleg Tabakov was a renown Russian actor, director, and public figure, who played over 100 roles in film and on TV. He is best known for his roles as Count Nikita Rostov in War and Peace (1965) by Sergey Bondarchuk, and as Oblomov in the eponymous film by Nikita Mikhalkov.
He was born Oleg Pavlovich Tabakov on August 17, 1935, in Saratov, Russia, USSR. His father, Pavel Kondratevich Tabakov, and his mother, Maria Andreevna Berezovskaya, were medical doctors in Saratov. His parents separated during the Second World War, and young Tabakov was brought up by his single mother and grandmother. He attended the all-boys school in Saratov, and was active in the drama class. From 1950-1953 he studied acting at the Saratov House of Pioneers under the legendary acting coach Natalia Iosifivna Sukhostav.
In 1953, Tabakov moved to Moscow and entered the Moscow Art Theatre (MKhAT) School of Acting. He attended the class of Vasili Toporkov, graduating in 1957 as an actor. He made his film debut as Sasha in Sasha vstupayet v zhizn (1957) by director Mikhail Shvejtser, in 1956. That same year he became the youngest of the six founding members of Sovremennik Theatre under the directorship of Oleg Efremov. From 1957 - 1983, he was member of Sovremennik. There he played leading roles in such productions as 'Goly Korol' (aka.. Naked King), 'Tri Zhelaniya' (aka.. Three Wishes), 'Obyknovennaya istoriya' (aka.. Ordinary story) and other contemporary Russian plays. From 1970 - 1976 Tabakov was General Manager of Sovremennik, he promoted Galina Volchek to Principal Director of the company.
Since 1970s Tabakov had been teaching young actors at his master-class. Many of his students became successful professionals on stage as well as in film industry. His teaching credentials included workshops and productions at the Paris Conservatoire, the British American Drama Academy, Akademie Der Künst in Hamburg, the Max Reinhardt Seminar in Vienna, Carnegie Mellon, The Juilliard School, New York University, Florida State University, The University of Delaware, and Harvard University.
In 1978 Tabakov and his students opened the "Tabakerka" Theatre in downtown Moscow. There Tabakov produced and directed several successful plays, such as 'Vesnoi ya vernus k tebe' (aka.. I'll be back in Spring), 'Proschay Maugli' (aka.. farewell to Maugli), and 'Belosnezhka i sem gnomov' (aka.. Snowhite and seven dwarfs). However, regardless of success with public and steady critical acclaim, the Soviet officials did not authorize Tabakov's new theatre, and his company dissolved by 1982. At that time Tabakov was depressed and transferred to MKhAT. There he played one of his best stage roles, Salieri, in the popular play 'Amadeus' under directorship of Oleg Efremov. Over the course of his acting career Tabakov appeared in about 150 roles, he also directed over 30 international stage productions.
During the 1990s, Oleg Tabakov was a strong supporter of democratic reforms and freedom in the new Russia. He made public speeches and was involved in many public events facilitating the cultural transformation of arts and theatres in Russia. Having himself experienced the Soviet control and suppression during his creative career, Tabakov became one of the leading proponents of cultural reforms in Russia. His efforts came to fruition in the revival of the Moscow Art Theatre under his leadership, as well as his participation in numerous cultural and political events in Russia. Over the course of his life and career, Oleg Tabakov rose to become one of the living symbols of artistic freedom in Russia. However, during the last years of life, Tabakov had shown public support of the ruling regime of Russia, supposedly out of the desire to help his students and the actors of his theatre.
Since 2000, after the death of his friend Oleg Efremov, Tabakov had been Artistic Director of Moscow Art Theatre named after A. Chekhov. He was also the Artistic Director of "Tabakerka" Theatre, and the leading actor in both companies. He was awarded the USSR State Prize for the Arts, the Russian State Prize for the Arts, and other national and international awards and decorations from Hungary, France, Poland, and the USSR. Oleg Tabakov was designated People's Actor of the USSR and Russia (1980s), and was decorated with the Order of Merit of Fatherland II degree, by the Russian president Vladimir Putin (2005).
Oleg Tabakov has been married twice. His first son, Anton Tabakov, is an actor and also a successful night-club owner in Moscow. Since 1996, Oleg Tabakov had been married to actress Marina Zudina and the couple had two children, son, Pavel (b. 1996), and daughter, Maria (b. 2006). Oleg Tabakov was hospitalized in the late November of 2017. His condition worsened gradually, ending in his death on 12th of March, 2018.- Director
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Pavel Chukhray is a Russian screenwriter and film director. He graduated from VGIK (All-Union State Institute of Cinematography): in 1971 -- from the cameraman's department, in 1974 -- from the director's department. He began his film career as a cameraman assistant, a director of photography, and then a feature film director. He wrote a number of scripts including "Who Will Pay For the Fortune" (directed by Konstantin Khudyakov). He is best known for his film The Thief (1997), which was nominated for a Golden Globe and an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and won the Nika Award for Best Picture and Best Directing. He is the son of the prominent Russian film director Grigory Chukhray. Steven Spielberg invited Pavel Chukhray to participate in his project: "Broken Silence " (2002), an international documentary mini-series about the holocaust. Pavel Chukhray directed the segment "Children from the Abyss."- Actor
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- Director
Sergei Bodrov Jr. was born on December 27th, 1971 to producer and director Sergei Bodrov. He made his film debut in his father's Prisoner of the Mountains (1996) (Prisoner of the mountains) for which he won a Nika. From then on Sergei's career began. In 1997 he played a lead role in Brother (1997) which turned him into a star and made him one of the most known and beloved Russian actors.
He followed up the role with Brat 2 (2000) in 2000. He made his directorial debut in 2001 with Sisters (2001). The movie was a hit with audiences and critics alike.
In 2002 he was supposed to direct a movie, "Messenger", for which he traveled to the Caucasus mountains. On September 20th 2002, an avalanche due to a glacier slide came down from the mountains. Bodrov and his production group are still reported missing, believed killed. He is survived by his wife and two children, a four year old daughter and a two-month old son.- 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).- Natalya Negoda was born on 12 November 1963 in Moscow, Russian SFSR, USSR [now Russia]. She is an actress, known for Little Vera (1988), Buben, baraban (2009) and Back in the U.S.S.R. (1992).
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Sergei Bodrov was born on 28 June 1948 in Khabarovsk, Khabarovskiy kray, RSFSR, USSR [now Russia]. He is a writer and director, known for Mongol: The Rise of Genghis Khan (2007), Prisoner of the Mountains (1996) and The Amateurs (1985).- Director
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Sergei Loznitsa, Ukrainian film maker, was born on September, 5th 1964 in Baranovichi, USSR. He grew up in Kiev, and in 1987 graduated from the Kiev Polytechnic with a degree in Applied Mathematics. In 1987-1991 Sergei worked as a scientist at the Kiev Institute of Cybernetics, specializing in artificial intelligence research. He also worked as a translator from Japanese. In 1997 Loznitsa graduated from the Russian State Institute of Cinematography (VGIK) in Moscow, where he studied feature film making. Loznitsa has been making documentary films since 1996 and is the author of 21 documentaries, as well as 4 feature films. In 2013 Sergei Loznitsa launched a film production and distribution company ATOMS & VOID. Currently working in both documentary and feature genres.- Director
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Aleksandr Rogozhkin was born on 3 October 1949 in Leningrad, RSFSR, USSR [now St. Petersburg, Russia]. He was a director and writer, known for Blokpost (1999), The Cuckoo (2002) and Peculiarities of the National Hunt (1995). He was married to Yuliya Rumyantseva. He died on 23 October 2021 in St. Petersburg, Russia.- Producer
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Anna Melikian (born February 8, 1976) is an Armenian-Russian film and TV director/ producer whose work has been recognized with several awards. After her participation at Sundance Film Festival she was listed in the TOP 10 of most perspective film directors by Variety magazine.
Melikian studied at the All-Russian State University of Cinematography film school in Moscow (classes of prof. Sergey Solovyov and Valery Rubinchik), where she was awarded by the university prize of "Saint Anna" for Poste restante (2000). After the graduation she was granted by GosKino Russian organization, made various documental and TV films. In 2008 Melikian's Rusalka (2007) was awarded by the Berlin International Film Festival Prize.- Actor
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- Producer
Sergey Garmash was born on 1 September 1958 in Kherson, Ukrainian SSR, USSR [now Ukraine]. He is an actor and writer, known for 12 (2007), Hipsters (2008) and The Rifleman of the Voroshilov Regiment (1999).- Producer
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Born in Leningrad in 1951. Son of a well-known documentary film director Yefim Uchitel. Graduated in 1975 from VGIK (The All-Russian State University of Cinematography). Worked as a cameraman and documentary film director at the Leningrad Documentary Film Studio. President and CEO of Rock Films, a production company established in 1991. In 1995, directed his first feature, a critically acclaimed Giselle's Mania (1995). Winner of Nika, Russian Film Academy Award for best feature film in 2000, His Wife's Diary was the Russian submission for Oscar 2000. In 2008 he was awarded with Best Directing Prize in Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. Laureate of a number of international and Russian film festivals.- Actor
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Konstantin Khabenskiy is a Russian actor known in the West for his working the horror flicks Night Watch (2004) and Day Watch (2006). He is also co-starring opposite Angelina Jolie in Wanted (2008).
He was born Konstantin Yurevich Khabenskiy on January 11, 1972, in Leningrad, USSR (now St. Petersburg, Russia). His father, Yuri Aronovich Khabenskiy, and his mother, Tatiana Gennadievna (nee Nikulina), were hydrological engineers. Young Konstantin studied electronics at the Leningrad Technical School of Aviation Electronics and Automatics. He dropped out after three years of studies after deciding that electronics was not for him.
He then played guitar on Leningrad's famous main street, Nevsky Prospekt, as a struggling street musician, and also worked as stage technician at the Theater-Studio "Subbota". From 1990 to 1995 he studied acting at the St. Peterburg Institute of Theater, Music and Cinematography, renamed in 1991 when the city of Leningrad was renamed St. Petersburg. There his classmates were [link=nm0691717 Andrey Zibrov, and Mikhail Trukhin. In 1995, Konstantin graduated from the class of Veniamin Filshtinsky, as an actor. He had a five-month stint at the Raikin Theater of Satire in Moscow, but could not obtain any serious work there, so he returned to St. Petersburg.
Konstantin made his film debut in Na kogo Bog poschlet (1994). He shot to fame in Russia after co-starring in Uboynaya sila (2000), a popular series about crime in St. Petersburg, Russia. He ascended to international fame with the leading role as Anton Gorodetsky in the popular Russian vampire franchise, Night Watch (2004), and the second installment, Day Watch (2006), both by director Timur Bekmambetov and based on the books by Sergey Lukyanenko. He further advanced his film career appearing as Exterminatior in the horror film Wanted (2008).
From 1996 to 2003 Konstantin was a member of the troupe at the St. Petersburg Theater of Lensovet. There he worked together with his former classmates Mikhail Porechenkov, Mikhail Trukhin, and Andrey Zibrov, under the directorship of Yuri Butusov. In 2003 Khabenskiy and Porechenkov were invited by Oleg Tabakov to work with the world famous Moscow Arts Theater (MXAT). There Konstantin played the leading role in"White guard", a classic play by Mikhail A. Bulgakov. He also appeared as Claudius in a Russian adaptation of Shakespeare's "Hamlet",directed by Yuri Butusov. Konstantin also made appearances on stage at the St. Petersburg Theatre of Lensovet in the leading role in a contemporary play 'V ozhidanii Godo', and as Kaligula in a Russian adaptation of the play by Albert Camus.
Outside of his acting profession, Konstantin Khabenskiy enjoys a Russian-style rural life in his country home near Moscow. He moved back to Russia after a few years of living in Los Angeles. He was married to radio-journalist Anastasiya Khabenskaya from January 12, 2000, until her untimely death at age 35 from a brain tumor on December 3, 2008. He has one son by her, Ivan Konstantinovich, who was born in Moscow on September 25, 2007. In 2013 he married actress Olga Litvinova and June 3, 2016 she gave birth to their daughter.
Konstantin Khabenskiy was designated Honorable Actor of Russia (2006) and also received numerous awards and decorations for his works on stage and in the movies. He has homes in both Russian capitals: Moscow and St. Petersburg.- Galina Polskikh was born on 27 November 1939 in Moscow, RSFSR, USSR [now Russia]. She is an actress, known for Peterburgskie tayny (1994), Dikaya sobaka Dingo (1962) and Razvyazka Peterburgskikh tayn (1998). She was previously married to Aleksandr Surin and Faik Hasanov.
- Vladimir Fogel was born in 1902 in Moscow, Russian Empire [now Russia]. He was an actor, known for By the Law (1926), The Adventures of the Three Reporters (1926) and Chess Fever (1925). He died on 8 June 1929 in Moscow, Russian SFSR, USSR [now Russia].
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- Soundtrack
Kseniya Rappoport was born on 25 March 1974 in Leningrad, Russian SFSR, USSR [now St. Petersburg, Russia]. She is an actress and director, known for The Double Hour (2009), The Unknown Woman (2006) and Yurev den (2008). She is married to Dmitriy Borisov.- Actor
- Producer
Aleksey Petrenko was born on 26 March 1938 in Chemer, Chernigov Oblast, Ukrainian SSR, USSR [now Chernihiv Oblast, Ukraine]. He was an actor and producer, known for 12 (2007), Skaz pro to, kak tsar Pyotr arapa zhenil (1976) and Kollektsioner (2001). He was married to Azima Abdumaminova, Alla Petrenko and Galina Kozhukhova-Petrenko. He died on 22 February 2017 in Moscow, Russia.- Writer
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- Actor
Ivan Vyrypaev was born on 3 August 1974 in Irkutsk, Irkutskaya oblast, RSFSR, USSR [now Russia]. He is a writer and director, known for Euphoria (2006), Kislorod (2009) and UFO (2020). He has been married to Karolina Gruszka since 2007. They have one child. He was previously married to Polina Agureeva.- Actor
- Additional Crew
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Yuri Nikulin was a Russian film actor, comedian, mime, and circus clown who was also Artistic Director of Moscow Circus and popular TV show host.
He was born Yuri Vladimirovich Nikulin on December 18, 1921, in the town of Demidov, Smolensk province, Central Russia. His father, Vladimir Andreevich Nikulin, was a writer and director who worked for theater and circus. Yuri Nikulin inherited his fathers talents and had a dream of becoming an actor. The Second World War changed his plans as he was drafted in the Soviet Army in 1939 and served in a tank unit until 1946. After the war he came out a changed man. He could not get in any Soviet acting school for a few years, until he went to the Moscow Circus. There he was admitted after presenting a pantomime as a clown. He graduated from the Circus School in 1950, and started his acting career as a clown at the Moscow State Circus.
Yuri Nikulin became best known for his roles in the comedies from director Leonid Gaidai. Their collaboration from 1961 to 1971 was one of the most productive actor-director partnerships in the history of Russian film. Their comedies were the highest-grossing box office hits ever in Russia and the former Soviet Union with the admissions of 222,800,000 in the first 15 months. The Diamond Arm (1969) was the #1 top grossing Russian box office hit ever with theatrical admissions over 76,700,000 in the Soviet Union in 1969. In a 1995 national poll in Russia, The Diamond Arm (1969), starring Yuri Nikulin was voted the best Russian comedy ever.
Nikulin's effortless style and precise delivery, as well as his mastery of timing and his hilarious masks made him an outstanding comedian, arguably the best Russian comedian ever. Nikulin showed his range in a variety of genres from slapstick comedy to romance and war drama. His most popular film partners were Georgiy Vitsin, Evgeniy Morgunov, Natalya Varley, Rolan Bykov, Anatoliy Papanov, Sergey Filippov, Mikhail Pugovkin, Aleksandr Demyanenko, Leonid Kuravlyov, Andrey Mironov, Evgeniy Evstigneev, Vasiliy Shukshin, Vyacheslav Tikhonov, Sergey Bondarchuk, Nikolay Burlyaev, Viktor Pavlov, Boris Novikov, Vladimir Etush, Saveliy Kramarov, Nikolay Grinko, and many other notable Russian actors.
Yuri Nikulin received popular and critical acclaim for his leading and supporting roles in such films as 'Andrei Rublev' (1961) by director Andrei Tarkovsky, They Fought for Their Country (1975) by director Sergey Bondarchuk, 'Stariki-razboyniki' (1971) by director Eldar Ryazanov, 'Chuchelo' (1983) by director Rolan Bykov, 'Kogda derevya byli bolshimi' (1961) by director Lev Kulidzhanov, '12 stulev' by director Leonid Gaidai, 'Dvadtsat dney bez voiny' (1976) by director Aleksey German, and many other memorable works in film. Nikulin's recording of the theme song from The Diamond Arm (1969), especially his delivery of such lines as "We care less" and "We are fearless" made it a popular hit in the 60s and 70s Soviet Union.
Nikulin was among very few comedians who could continue laughing in the face of the Soviet system without any fear of being punished. Even the toughest hard-liners knew that without his humor the everyday life of many millions would be totally unbearable. His genuine talent endured the country's worst times with a smile. He could make people smile anytime and anywhere; even after the collapse of the Soviet Union, when the bloody communism was replaced with the no less bloody Russian capitalism. During the 1990s Nikulin hosted 'Bely Popugai' (aka.. White Parrot), a hilarious TV show where he gathered the crème de la crème of Russian comedians.
The Moscow State Circus on Tsvetnoi Bulevard was the main workplace for Yuri Nikulin, where he had a career spanning about 50 years. He was awarded the honorable title of the National Artist and received numerous decorations for his achievements as an actor. Yuri Nikulin died after an open heart surgery, on August 21, 1997, in Moscow, and was laid to rest in the Novodevichy Monastery Cemetery, among the tombs of Anton Chekhov, Mikhail A. Bulgakov, Nikolay Gogol, Nikita Khrushchev, Sergey Bondarchuk, Anatoliy Papanov, and other Russian culture luminaries and historic figures.- Actor
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Sergey Puskepalis was born on 15 April 1966 in Kursk, Kurskaya oblast, RSFSR, USSR [now Russia]. He was an actor and director, known for Prostye veshchi (2007), Metro (2013) and How I Ended This Summer (2010). He died on 20 September 2022 in Rostov district of the Yaroslavl region, Russia.- Director
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- Editor
Larisa Sadilova was born on 22 October 1963 in Bryansk, Bryanskaya oblast, RSFSR, USSR [now Russia]. She is a director and writer, known for Once in Trubchevsk (2019), S dnyom rozhdeniya! (1998) and S lyubovyu. Lilya (2003). She was previously married to Gennadiy Sidorov.- Chulpan Khamatova is an internationally acclaimed film and stage actress and well-known philanthropist who left Moscow following the Russian invasion of Ukraine and took permanent residency in Latvia.
She was born Chulpan Nailyevna Khamatova on October 1, 1975, in Kazan, Tatarstan Republic, Russia. She is an ethnic Tatar. Her name means "morning star" in Tatar language. Her mother, Marina Galimullovna Khamatova, was an engineer. Her father Nail Khamatov, was also an engineer and a managing director of a firm in Tatarstan, Russia.
Young Khamatova was a professionally trained figure skater. She suffered from a back trauma after a fall on ice; after that she quit figure skating, but continued roller-skating. She also had a gift for mathematics and studied at the prestigious School of Mathematics in Kazan. Then she studied for one semester at business school of Kazan University, but became bored and decided to change her career and entered the Kazan School of Theatre. From 1995-1998 Khamatova studied acting at the State Institute of Theatrical Arts (GITIS) in Moscow, and graduated from the class of Aleksei Borodin in 1998 as an actress.
Khamatova was a third year student at GITIS when she made her film debut in the role of Katya in Vadim Abdrashitov's film Vremya tantsora (1998). She won critical acclaim in Russia after playing a female lead in Country of the Deaf (1998). Soon she gained international attention after starring as Mamlakat opposite Moritz Bleibtreu in Luna Papa (1999) by director Bakhtyar Khudojnazarov, which became a "quiet masterpiece" in Germany as well as in Russia. Khamatova's effortless style shines in a variety of her film characters ranging from farcical Lara in Good Bye Lenin! (2003), to charming seductress Nelly in 72 metra (2004), to passionate and sophisticated Lara in Doctor Zhivago, a Russian TV-series based on the eponymous book by Boris Pasternak.
Chulpan Khamatova became one of the most celebrated young actresses of Russian theatre and cinema. She was designated Honorable artist of Russia. In 2004 Khamatova was awarded State Prize by Russian president Vladimir Putin for her achievements in acting. From 1998 to 2022, she was a permanent member of Sovremennik Theatre in Moscow under directorship of Galina Volchek and other directors. Her stage and film partners has been such actors as Sergey Shakurov, Dina Korzun, Valentin Gaft, Inna Churikova, Sergey Garmash, Marina Neyolova, Elena Yakovleva and other notable Russian actors. From 2008 to 2022, Khamatova collaborated with the Theatre of Nations in Moscow. From 1995 to 2002 Khamatova was married to her class-mate, a fellow actor Ivan Volkov, their daughter, named Arina, was born in 2002. She was in relationship with a Russian émigré, actor-dancer Aleksei Dubinin with whom she has daughter Alina, born in 2003. Her third daughter, Iya Shein, was born in 2010. Besides her native Russian and Tatar, Chulpan Khamatova is fluent in German and English.
In 2006, Khamatova was a member of the six-person jury at the 63rd Venice Film Festival headed by French actress Catherine Deneuve. Chulpan Khamatova has been one of the leading figures for charitable causes in Russia. Since 2005 Khamatova and her fellow Russian actors started a charitable initiative "Podari Zhizn" for the benefit of children suffering from leukemia.
In March 2022, Chulpan Khamatova with her three daughters left Russia and gave an interview saying that she has gone into exile in Latvia, because of Russian war in Ukraine. Khamatova bought a house and settled in a suburb of Riga, the capital city of Latvia. In March 2022, Chulpan Khamatova became a permanent member of the troupe at the New Riga Theatre upon invitation from Alvis Hermanis, artistic director of the company. She also made appearances on Latvian TV and made public speeches at anti-war protests in Riga, Latvia. Khamatova is learning Latvian, her three daughters are also adjusting to the new life in Europe. - Vera Alentova is among the most popular Soviet and Russian actresses, thanks to her wonderful performance in Vladimir Menshov's internationally acclaimed Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears (1980). Born in 1942 into a family of actors (the apple does not fall far from the tree!), she naturally started studying drama at the Moscow Theatre Art Studio once she had graduated from high school. In 1962, aged 20, she married future director Vladimir Menshov, the man who would make her world famous eighteen years later. Active in the theater in the first years of her career (she appeared in a single film in the 1960s), she turned to television ("Rozhdenie", her first TV movie in 1977) and the seventh art. Success was awaiting her in the latter medium, thanks to the role of Katia, a modern free woman, in the already mentioned Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears (1980) . Seen by 84,400,000 people in the Soviet Union (wow!), she immediately became a star in her country. She was also noticed throughout the world after the film received the Best Foreign Movie Award. Vera Alentova went on with her career, often playing unsatisfied women coping with midlife crisis (Vremya zhelaniy (1984) ; Zavist bogov (2000)). Unfortunately her films were little seen outside Russia, so the rest of the world has been deprived of her talent. Too bad.
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Panin was rocketed to fame by the hit television detective show "Kamenskaya." In 2000, he had lead roles in both Valery Akhadov's "Don't Offend the Women" and Pavel Lugin's "Wedding," as well as Alexander Atanesyan's action thriller "24 Hours." He won the best actor prize at the Golden Ram film festival for his part in "Wedding." Panin made his first screen appearance in the movie "Straightway," but it was his performances in Maxim Pezhemsky's "Mama, Don't Cry" and Denis Yevstigneev's "Mama" that brought the actor renown.
Before becoming a screen regular, he was a stage actor at the Minusinsky theater, where he worked after graduating from the Culture Institute in Kemerovo. Although he had initially planned to attend the Culinary Institute, Panin went on to further his education as an actor, graduating from Moscow's legendary MKhAT in 1991 and taking up residence at the MKhAT Chekhov theater with his wife, Natalya Rogozhina. His stage work includes "Three Sisters" (Soleny), "The Miserly Knight," "Marriage," "Deadly Number," and a private production of "Winter." Panin often acts in Oleg Tabakov's productions.- 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
- Producer
- Writer
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).- Writer
- Director
Yuriy Arabov was born on 25 October 1954 in Moscow, RSFSR, USSR [now Russia]. He was a writer and director, known for The Monk and the Demon (2016), Moloch (1999) and The Horde (2012). He died on 27 December 2023 in Russia.- Producer
- Actor
- Director
Founder and co-founder of Art Pictures Studio production company, general producer of NMG Studio company, Chairman of the Directors Board of Lenfilm Production Studio, founder of Industry Film and Television School. Directed two successful domestic war dramas: "The 9th Company" (2005) that was based on real-life battle during the Soviet-Afghan war became the first Russian film with $25 million box-office and was awarded by the National Academy of Cinema Arts; "Stalingrad" (2013) became one of the highest-grossing films in Russian history and gained over $67 million worldwide. Moreover, "Stalingrad" was the first Russian movie released in IMAX format. One of the latest Fedor Bondarchuk's projects, sci-fi blockbuster "Attraction" (also released in IMAX format), became one of the top grossing Russian films and earned over one billion rubles in Russia and CIS. Over 4 million viewers watched "Attraction" in cinema, the movie also became the leader on streaming services after its online release . The follow-up of this ambitious story, "Invasion", came out in theaters in January 2020 and grossed over 900 million rubles in cinemas (with more than 2 million audience). Another Fedor Bondarchuk's latest project was his first TV-series "Psycho" - a dramatic story about a modern psychotherapist. Russian NMG Studio and Renta Videostudio were producing.
Fedor Bondarchuk's Art Pictures Studio Production Company has been working on national and international markets over 25 years and is considered to be one of the leaders in Russian film industry. Art Pictures Studio production projects include such Russian box-office hits as "Ice" (directed by Oleg Trofim), "Heat" (directed by Rezo Gigineishvili), "Soulless " and "Soulless-2" (directed by Roman Prygunov) and many others. Films produced by APS have earned over $200 million in movie theaters and won over 50 Russian and International awards. More than 80 countries purchased the rights to distribute APS projects. The "Ice" sequel -"Ice 2" (directed by Zhora Kryzhovnikov) premiered February 2020 and grossed more than 1,5 billion rubles. Over 5 million people have seen "Ice 2" in cinemas. Art Pictures Studio's new movie - sci-fi thriller "Sputnik" where Fedor Bondarchuk played a colonel Semiradov (directed by Egor Abramenko) was also a huge hit. The project was viewed more than 1 million times after just one month of online-streaming in Russia. It also became Number 1 in American iTunes (the "Horror" category) right after its USA release. "Sputnik"'s Rotten Tomatoes score is almost 90% - it is the first time when a Russian project is rated this high. In September of 2021 APS released its first documentary "Bondarchuk.Battle" focusing on a figure of Academy Award-winning director Sergei Bondarchuk. Helming the project are journalists Anton Jelnov and Denis Kataev with Ilya Belov as a director. Fedor Bondarchuk was producing.
Fedor Bondarchuk is one of the founders and producers of Art Pictures Vision Company which specializes in TV production. Art Pictures Vision portfolio includes such popular TV projects as "The Year of Culture" (TNT channel), "90's. Funny and loud!", "Psychologirls" (STS channel). In 2019 APV projects premiered on Amazon Prime streaming service: sports drama "Junior League" (STS), spy thriller "Sleepers" (TV 1st channel) and a horror movie "The day after" became available for foreign subscribers. The latter also had a release in Japan - both on TV screens and online. Among current APV projects are road-movie type of comedy "Let's go!" (STS) and sports comedy "Lanky Girls" (STS), a detective period piece An Hour before the Dawn"(NTV and more tv), a story about a Russian moto sport team "Kamaz Master" - "KAMAZ. Extreme Racing" (Premiere), and a comedy " Parents Commitee" (STS).
In 2017 Fedor Bondarchuk and producers of "Vodorod" Production Company Mikhail Vrubel and Alexander Andryushchenko, joined by National Media Group, founded Industry Film and Television School. The mission of the School is to form a new generation of professionals in Russian film industry. At present Industry Film and Television School offers more than 20 various training programs from filmmaking and cinematography up to VFX production. Among the members of School's advisory board and training staff are professionals of Russian film and TV industries as well as successful and talented Russian filmmakers. In the three years of its existence School produced a lot of student's short films that later got into the programs of such significant film festivals as "Kinotavr", "Motion", "In one word" (Korotche), MIFF and many others.
Fedor Bondarchuk is also known as one of the most popular and sought-after actors of Russian cinema. He played more than 70 roles in movies and TV projects of various genres. Fyodor Bondarchuk is the two-time winner of the awards of Golden Eagle: for a leading n role in a movie "Two days" by Avdotya Smirnova (2012) and for a leading role in the famous comedy "Ghost" produced by Alexander Voitinsky (2015). He is also a well-known TV host. He's been hosting his own TV show "Cinema in Details" on STS channel since 2005. Fedor Bondarchuk repeatedly became the winner of the TEFI, Nika, Golden Eagle and Blockbuster awards and won a lot of other prizes.
Fedor Bondarchuk is the Chairman of Trustees Board of Open Russian Film Festival "Kinotavr", the member of "Nika" Russian Academy of Cinema Arts and Sciences, the member of "Golden Eagle" National Academy of Cinema Arts and Sciences of Russia. At the end of 2018 he was awarded the Order of Alexander Nevsky for his contribution in the development of national culture and arts. Also at the end of 2018, in accordance with the Decree by the President of Russia, Fedor Bondarchuk entered the Presidential Board of Culture and Arts. In 2019 he received the National Grand Prix "Media Manager of Russia".
Fedor Bondarchuk was born on May 9th, 1967 in Moscow, in the family of director Sergei Fedorovich Bondarchuk and actress Irina Konstantinovna Skobtseva. He graduated from the directing department of VGIK University (Yuri Ozerov's workshop) in 1992. He began his career in 1990 as a director of music videos with famous Russian musicians. In 1993 he debuted in cinema with a short film "I Love" featuring a star performance by the famous actress Lyudmila Gurchenko. A war drama "The 9th Company" (2005) based on real-life events during Soviet-Afgan war is his full-length major debut.- Director
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- Additional Crew
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].