Who is who from A to Z

In this section one can find biographies and filmographies of Russian film dirtectors - documentarians who really work in the field of cinema today.

The list is made up in alphabetical order.

Anchugov

Andrei Anchugov was born in 1961.

He graduated from Urals State University, journalism department, in 1985 and film directors department at VGIK in 1993. As a student he shot "The grandmother's Flat", which didn't exectly agree with acute theme films of "perestroyka" and gave rise to a lot of argument in the press, for example a question of "documentarian's right of provoking his characters" was discussed. At any rate, Anchugov hasn't managed to repeat the success of his own debut so far.

Filmography

1990 - The Grandmother's Flat

1991 - Old Testament Story

1992 - Anomalous Events

1994 - Poo Drum

1995 - Fern's Blossoms

1995 - The Boulder

1996 - In Memory of the Crocodile

1998 - Long Live Labour

A very intelligent director, who prefers to live and work in aposition. He has stuck to his aposition since the soviet times, when his very vanguard film "African Hunt" gave rise to the teachers' rage. He made an attempt to be engaged in feature films and shot the film "Test" at Alexey German's studio.

Filmography

1988 - African Hunt

1991 - Test

1995 - The Physiology of Russian Life

Anatoly Baluyev was born in 1946 in the village of "Kochevo", Komi-Permyatsky district. He graduated from VGIK, cinema expertise department. Worked as an editor at Sverdlovskaya film studio, where he later became a director. One of a few representatives of the village branch (developed by Shukshin) in documentary cinema. At that one can say that the less professionalism his films have, the more soul is put into the film, but unfortunately the situation is sometimes contrary.

Filmography

1976 - Oh, a Bicycle

1979 - At One's Own Will

1988 - Fugue

1992 - We Were the Smoke

1994 - The Waves

1996 - Tupi-tarm

Svetlana Bichenko graduated from Urals University, journalism department, in 1990. In 1997 she finished the higher courses of script writers and directors. There are no masterpieces by Bichenko, but she is surely in the running and wants to contribute to Russian documentary cinema. And she has every reason for that.

Filmography:

1996 - The Method of Subtraction or Your Class-mate

1997 - BAL

1998 - Metamorphoses

Sergey Vinokurov was born in the town of Vetloog, Gorkovskiy region.

In 1986 he graduated from Moscow Higher technical school named after Bauman. He has been working at Leningrad studio of documentaries since 1988. He shoots feature and documentary films.

1992 - It was Snowing in the Morning

1995 - Stopping Place

Marina Goldovskaya. A very active woman, a very active director, and she has always been active up to now.

Filmography:

A Lout from Astrahan

The Authorties of Solovki

A House with Knights

Stanislav Govoruhin

Filmography:

documentaries:

1992 - It's Impossible to Live This Way

1995 - The Russia We have Lost

1996 - The Great Criminal Revolution

feature films:

The Rendezvous Is not to Be Changed

Gennadiy Gorodniy was born in 1957. Graduated from VGIK, script writers department in 1989, in 1991 he graduated from the Higher Courses of script writers and directors. Gorodniy doesn't stick to one and the same approach in his work, he shoots different films and always provides an appropriate average level. He has produced many films lately, he is director of his own documentary studio-school.

Filmography

1991 - The Dance Veranda named after F. Dzerzhinskiy

1992 - The Bridge (Lenin's Hills)

1993 - To Carry into Effect

1994 - The Cross

1994 - Venice Mirror

1994 - Eko-Chernobil

1995 - Pictures from the Exibition

1996 - I have Set up a Monument to Me...

1998 - Moscow Nocturne

In accordance with his first profession Alexander Gutman is a documentary film operator, and he was one of the best documentary operators. He became a film director at the time of "perestroyka" and this had an effect on his films, which are full of social and political themes. Gutman might be described as a film studio to himself: he shoots films, does the director's work, drives all by himself and he is prepared to set out for any place any minute.

Filmography

1986 - The Circle

1988 - Russians have Left

1995 - A Bodiless Head

Sergey Dvortsevoy was born in 1962. Graduated from aviation school in Krivoy Rog in 1982. Then he graduated from Novosibirsky Electrotechnical Institute, radiotechnical department, in 1989, and then in 1993 - he graduated from the Higher Courses of script writers and directors (Gurevich and Zelikin's studio). Dvortsevoy really broke into the documentary cinema elite with his 20-minute-length debut film "Happiness" (1994). The film was awarded about ten prizes, namely in Nion, Leipzig, and even in Petersburg and Yekaterinburg, which is not very characteristic of Russia. At the height of his fame in 1998 he shot a full-length film "Chlebny Den", where he no doubt confirmed his talent and for the most part his efficiansy. Of course this was duly rated at the largest world festivals.

Filmography

1994 - Happiness

1998 - Chlebny Den

Galine Yevtushenko was born in Voronezh. Graduated from the State University, philology department, completed post-graduate program at VGIK and the Higher Courses of script writers and directors (Gurevich and Zelikin's studio). Shot several films which drew attention to their author as a talented director. One feels that she first invents her films, and then shoots them. This is obvious, but it doesn't annoy one.

Filmography

1994 - I have Seen you Somewhere...

1995 - Alexander Kamenin

1998 - The Leaders

Andrei Zheleznyakov was born in 1963. Graduated from VGIK, documentary depart-ment, in 1996. His first films are very promising, and his good luck (The Golden Bear received at Berlin festival in the framework of the category of the short meter) promises a real career.

Filmography:

1989 - Red Pheasant on White Snow

1990 - Military Secret

1992 - Babai Shtrasse or a story of America

1993 - Heart, you don't need rest

1994 - A Stove-setter and a Coffin-maker

1996 - Arrival of Train

Vladimir Kobrin's way of life is nearly that of a monk. Nearly - because Kobrin has got a family, children. But Kobrin hardly ever leaves his small appartment, where he has not only shot films for the past few years, but also taught students of his own course at VGIK.

The genre of Kobrin's films is difficult to identify, but no doubt the nature of the films is documentary.

Filmography

1987 - Biophisics of fermentive processes

1988 - Biopotentials

1989 - Present Continuous

1989 - Homo Paradoxum

1990 - Anatoly Vasilyevich's last dream

1991 - Here

Oleg Kovalov was born in Leningrad in 1950. Graduated from VGIK, cinema expertise department, in 1983. He has been a cinema historian and theorist.

He starred in the film "Prishvin's eyes of paper". In 1991 he made his debut as a director with his film "Scorpion's Gardens". In this film Kovalov creates a montage phantasma-goria out of chronicles and feature films of the 60-s. Since then Kovalov has been comfortably working between feature and non-feature cinema. But if in his feature films it's human people that act, in his documentaries he creates "The Island of the Dead", as all of his films are montage stories made of old archive cinema production.

Filmography

1991 - Scorpion's Gardens

1992 - The Island of the Dead

1995 - A Concert for the Rat

1995 - Sergey Eizenshtein. Autobiography.

Arkadi Kogan was born in 1957 in Novosibirsk. Graduated from The Institute of art, sculpture and architecture named after I.E. Repin, architecture department, in Leningrad in 1982, and from VGIK (T.Semenov's studio) in 1993. He worked as a disigner, theatre artist. Now he shoots fims for television documentary series, such as "Crime" screened on NTV and "ZhZL" screened on RTR. This is not easy or honourable, but occasionally very good non-commercial films come out of his pen.

Filmography

1990 - Vera

1992 - Yevgraph

1996 - To Live Long and to Die Being Young

1998 - A Trip to Malin

Victor Kosakovsky was born on Wednesday, July 19, 1961, and all the world seems to know about it, as the most fundamental Russian documentary film of the past decade was dedicated to this event. It's possible to treat Kosakovsky's films in different ways, but no matter who compiles Russian documentarian's rating, Kosakovsky is by hook or crook within the five best ones. But before he had worked for a long time as a montage specialist, operator's assistant and director's assistant at Leningrad documentaries studio. Then he finished the Higher Courses of script writers and directors.

He was awarded the State prize of Russia in 1996, the prize of "NIKA" in 1997, the prize of "Triumph", a lot of other prizes of international festivals. His films are successfully screened on European TV channels.

Filmography

1989 - Lossev

1991 - The Other Day

1992 - The Belovs

1997 - Wednesday, July 19, 1961

Sergey Knyazev was born in 1959. Graduated from Leningrad Institute of cinema engineers in 1983. Then he graduated from VGIK (Semyonov's studio). He lives on the outskirts of Moscow, in Podolsk. He is extremely eager to worker, and as a result of that shoots a lot of films. He is always in a hurry, but he doesn't always have the time to think everything over. Some of his films are so different from each other that it is hard to imagine that they have one and the same author.

Filmography:

1990 - How Grace is Given to Us

1992 - Our Day

1992 - OKNO to Europe

1994 - Stopping Place

1995 - And the Genius - is the absolute Devil

1996 - Russia. Experience of Keeping Mum.

1996 - A Real Nen

1997 - Awaiting Your Appearance

1998 - Vladimir Shukin's Patronymic.

Boris Krinitsin was born in 1948. A professional artist, participant and organizer of the exibitions which are foremost in Moscow.

His films are devoted to Russian Orthodox Church's history and its revival. His films are about the revival of Russian spirit, and the author is on the bring of saying that this spirit is superior to all other ones, but thank God that doesn't happen.

Filmography

1989 - Rita and Lena

1990 - Saturday

1991 - Workshop

1992 - Kazarin

1993 - Let Rostov Be the Great

1994 - I am Carrying my Cross Cautiously

1995 - A Word about Sophia

1998 - Patient to the End

Vitaliy Manskiy was born in Lvov in 1963.

Graduated from VGIK (Medinskiy's studio). Manskiy is one of the brightest documentarians in Russia. He is the author of nearly twenty very different films, which are closely connected with each other by the author's active position, his talent and colleagues' wild discussion.Practically all of his films are participants and prize holders of the largest international festivals, and they are successfully screened on many European TV channels. Manskiy - is the author of television projects "Real Cinema" and "Rise in Cinema" screened on ORT, director of "Vertov" studio on channel REN-TV. Founder of amateur home chronicles archive covering the period of 1945 to 1991. He was the first general producer of channel REN-TV. Founder of the only journal on documentary films in Russia in the framework of Internet. And as people who know Manskiy too well say, he is very different from his films.

Filmography

1986 - The Dogs

1986 - Finish

1987 - Boomerang

1987 - Park of Culture

1988 - Fast

1990 - Jewish Happiness

1991 - Sketches about Love (Joseph, Eva and Adolph)

1992 - Lenin's Body

1992 - Romance-Love

1993 - Imperial Dreams

1993 - Sketches about Love (Big Sale)

1994 - Amplification of Diagnosis

1994 - Moscow-Berlin the Way Back

1995 - Shears of the Next War

1996 - Sketches about Love (The New Times)

1996 - Bliss

Sergey Miroshnichenko was born in Chelyabinsk in 1955. After leaving school he worked for television as an assistant, then he graduated from VGIK, documentary department. He used to work at Sverdlovskaya films studio, now he is working for "TRI TE" studio. Miroshnichenko is the State Prize-winner, the prize-winner of a lot of Russian festivals, he is secretary of The Film People Society of Russia, Nikita Mihalkov's partner. He is a very good film director for a person having all these titles.

Filmography

1980 - Grinder

1981 - Island

1984 - That's about All of Life

1985 - Varvara's Key

1987 - Mrs Tundra

1988 - And the Past Seems a Dream

1989 - Chastushka of the Xxth Century

1990 - Seven-year-old Ones in the USSR

1992 - The Sacrament of Matrimony

1989-1995 - The Imperor's Death - Versions

1995 - A Minute of Silence

1996 - The Time of Great Deceptions

1998 - Fourteen-year-old Ones. Born in the USSR

Georgy Negashev was born in Sverdlovsk in 1947. Graduated from The Institute of Culture in Leningrad. Since 1973 he worked as a director for Sverdlovsk television, then for Siberia-cinema studio. Since 1992 he became director of West Siberia newsreel studio, and since 1994 director of Sverdlovskaya film stidio. Negashev's fame began to spread at the beginning of "perestroyka" together with a remarkable technician Smirnov from a film of the same name, and this film successfully continued the tradition of documentary comedy.

Negashev has been a cinema functioner for the past few years, and one could expect the death of Negashev as a director, but his film called "The Last King.." hasn't confirmed the expectations.

Filmography

1979 - Before the Vacation

1981 - Just a Game

1984 - A Lullaby with a Doll

1988 - Beyond the White Door

1989 - The New Times

1992 - Technician Smirnov's Benefit Performance

1998 - The Last King of the Semee Beach

Nikoly Obuhovich was born in 1936 in Leningrad. Graduated from LGITMiK and the Higher Courses of script writers and directors. He is one of few film directors of his generation, who continues to work actively, but that is not an obstacle for considering him a classical scholar.

Filmography:

1971 - Always to Remember

1971 - All Abakumov's Power

1972 - Fast Train "Moscow - Leningrad"

1973 - I have to Talk about Russia

1973 - Big Trouble

1974 - What are you Doing Tonight?

1975 - A Night at the Raised Bridges

1976 - Chairman Malinina

1981 - Baltic Evening

1982 - A Vocation to Teach

1982 - Rear

1983 - Golden Plate-2

1984 - Collective Farm "Red Beacon"

1984 - From Family Album

1985 - Reception for Private Affairs

1985 - Golden Plate 3-4

1987 - Dialogues

1987 - In Search of the Portrait

1988 - Anna Andreyevna's Fourth Dream

1988 - Life within Limits

1989 - Our Mother is a Heroine

1990 - And the Line is Never over

1991 - Swarm of White Princesses

1995 - Not about Stalin

Andrei Osipov was born in 1960. Graduated from Odesskiy Polytechnical Institute in 1982, and from the Higher Courses of script writers and directors in 1995. He lives in Moscow. His popularity is due to the film "Voices", which is based on the memories of a silver century's poet, Maximilian Voloshin. It is beyond one's expectations that the young man represents a professionally made form of narration, which unfortunally lacks search.

Filmography

1993 - A Touch

1994 - Duel

1994 - Remove Casual Tracks

1997 - Voices

Paul Pechyonkin was born in 1956 in the settlement of Kusya, Permskaya region.

Graduated from Permskiy Polytechnical Institute in 1978. Beginning from 1986 he worked as a director for television in Perm. In 1987 he organized one of the first private studios "New Policy". In 1995 he founded and became a director of The International Festival of New Documentary Films "Flahertiana" in Perm. It should be pointed out that in a Ural city of Perm there was no a documentary, as well as any other, film studio. And only due to Pechyonkin Perm appeared on the documentary map of Russia. This mere fact makes Pechyonkin one of the prominent Russian specialists in documentaries.

Filmography

1990 - A House with Windows Overlooking Silence

1991 - The Favourite

1992 - The Ashes of the Satan

1992 - Makariy's Day

1993 - About Olya in Captivity

1993 - A Man Who Harnessed Idea

1994 - The Story of Tyurin, an Artist and a Victim

1995 - Winner

1997 - A Game

1997 - Sketches from the Life of a Provincial Comic Actor

Alexander Sokurov was born in 1951. Graduated from Gorkovsky University, history department, in 1971, and from VGIK, film directors department (the studio of popular-science films by A. Zguridi) in 1978. Since 1974 till 1975 he worked for television of the city Gorkiy as a director. Since 1976 he has been living and working in St. Petersburg.

Sokurov is the author of his personally developed branch of documentary cinema, and so he may be reasonably called a modern classic. The films of the last period aim at ruining the existing cinema language, and let's hope Sokurov will succeed in creating a new one.

Filmography

documentaries

1978-1988 - Maria

1979-1989 - A Sonata for Hitler

1981-1986 - Dmitry Shostakovich. Alto Sonata

1982-1987 - And Nothing Else

1984-1987 - An Evening Sacrifice (Salute)

1985-1987 - Patience, Labour

1986 - Elegy

1987 - Moscow Elegy

1989 - St. Petersburg Elegy

1989 - Soviet Elegy

1990 - About the Events in Caucasus (Leningrad Newsreel N 5)

1990 - A Simple Elegy

1991 - Intonation Pattern

1993 - Elegy from Russia

1996 - Inner Voices

Fearure films:

1987 - A Lonly Voice of a Man

1987 - Sorrowful Indifference

1988 - Eclipse Days

1989 - Save and Reserve

1990 - Round Two

1992 - A Stone

1993 - Quiet Pages. By the Motives of Russian Prose of XIXth Century

1997 - The Mother And Son

Tatyana Skabard was born in 1953 in Bratslav.

Graduated from Kiyev Institute named after Karpenko-Karov in 1978. Worked at "Kiyevnauchfilm" studio, then at TsSDF in Moscow. Skabard is a bright impulsive person, who hasn't shot a film corresponding to her temper. Apparently, earlier the authorities were a nuisance, now there is no producer. But nearly all of the films are whispering: their author is a talented person.

Filmography

1984 - We are the Hosts

1985 - Stage

1986 - Re-Partition

1987 - Onega True Story

1988 - Change of the Year

1990 - The Way

1991 - My Last Tango

1993 - Oh, My God

1994 - P.S. (Post Scriptum)

1995 - Requiem

1998 - Chain

Vladislav Tarik was born in 1935.

Director of Sverdlovskaya film studio. When we say Tarik, we mean documentary comedy. At any rate, "The One Who Sings" might reasonably pretend to be called the funniest Russian documentary film. Like all comedy directors, Tarik is a very gloomy person in real life.

Filmography

1987 - Walkers

1988 - The One Who Sings

1989 - Egyptian

1994 - Armageddon

1995 - A Man in the House or Kevin Kein in the Country of Bolsheviks

1996 - Flow

1998 - Toothache

Alexey Hanyutin was born in 1955 in Moscow in the family of a famous cinema critic and Michail Romm's co-author in the film "Ordinary Fascism". Hanyutin graduated from VGIK, defended his thesis. Hanyutin's record as one of the best documentarians of the younger generation was supported by the film "DMB-91". This is a careful study of of men called up for military service and their hard way towards demobilization; the film was being shot for two years. Hanyutin is not an ever hurrying director, and he has already been working at his new project about Lenin Mausoleum for more than five years.

Filmography:

1978 - Autumn Weddings

1988 - Five-Copeck Piece

1991 - DMB-91

1995 - Mausoleum

1997 - Gold-Domed Moscow

Tophic Shachverdiyev was born in

He is in a way the father of anti-Stalin branch in the Soviet cinema. But his film "Stalin with us", having brought up the subject, at the same time dropped it, as tens of other anti-Stalin films concentrated on history and social and political journalism. Shachver-diyev asked the question of the way of driving Stalin away from our souls. For the past few years Shachverdiyev has mostly co-operated with television, which doesn't agree with his talent.

Filmography

1988 - Stalin is with us

1990 - To Die of Love

Yuriy Shiller was born in 1942 in the town of Oha on Sakhalin Island.

Graduated from VGIK in 1969. Worked for "Tsentrnauchfilm", for Alma-Ata film studio. Since 1975 he was a director of "Novosibirsktelefilm", and then of West Siberia newsreel studio. Shiller is the director of one film he has been shooting for his whole life time. This film is a poem of a man's soul. One review read simply and briefly: "Shiller is a genius". Shiller is really shooting a remarkable film of his whole life, but every time he abandons his theme, there is a failure awaiting him.

Filmography

1982 - Men Called up for Military Service

1983 - Such a Short Summer

1984 - Echo of trains passing by

1986 - Accordion Players

1987 - There was Such Music

1989 - Fliyeta, Dancers

1990 - We shall Be Alive

1991 - When the Sky Is Opens

1997 - Motherland, Stranger

1998 - Bumble-bee's Flight

Vladimir Eisner was born in 1955 in Siberia. Graduated from VGIK, documentary department, in 1985. Since 1985 he has been director of West Siberia newsreel studio.

Filmography:

1985 - Seven Simeons

1986 - From Stanislavskiy's Theatre Life

1989 - Once upon a Time There Lived Seven Simeons (in association with Frank)

1990 - Prayer

1993 - A Quiet Abode

1994 - Koral

1996 - Fisherman's Happiness

Filmography:

1991 - Nikola-the Worker

1993 - Enemy's Death

1994 - A Call from Russia

1996 - Russian President Election in Investigation Cell

You haven't found in this list Bukovskiy and Rodnyanskiy, Frank and Seletskis, Tyulkin and Peleshan, Soosar and Hashevatskiy. We had to cofine it to the borders of Russian Federation, otherwise we would have had to make a list of "documentarians of the whole world", which in fact would have been juster, for there are no borders for us really. We will also welcome your criticism concerning some possible mistakes in the matter of dates and facts in the directors' biographies, or your additional information, because we are planning to give more data within this section as we receive new information and mostly as new names in Russian documentary cinema appear or the old boy network resumes its position.