Aleksei Yefimovich Uchitel (russian: Алексей Ефимович Учитель; born 31 August 1951) is a Russian film director. In 2002, he received the title

People's Artist of Russia People's Artist of the Russian Federation (russian: Народный артист Российской Федерации, ''Narodnyy artist Rossiyskoy Federatsii''), also sometimes translated as National Artist of the Russian Federation, is an h ...

Life and career

Uchitel was born on 31 August 1951 in

Leningrad Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

to the family of documentary filmmaker Yefim Uchitel. In 1975, he graduated from

VGIK The Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography (russian: Всероссийский государственный институт кинематографии имени С. А. Герасимова, meaning ''All-Russian State Institute of Cinemat ...

, worked at the Leningrad studio of documentary films. In 1990, he founded his film studio "Rock". Uchitel's directorial debut was the film ''

Gisele's Mania ''Gisele's Mania'' (russian: Мания Жизели) is a 1996 Russian biographical drama film directed by Aleksey Uchitel. Plot The film tells the love stories of the famous Russian ballerina Olga Spesivtseva. Cast * Galina Tyunina as Olga ...

''. In 2000, he received the Nika Award, the

Kinotavr Kinotavr (russian: Кинотавр), also known as the Sochi Open Russian Film Festival is an open film festival held in the resort city of Sochi, Russia annually in June since 1991, until it was cancelled in the wake of the 2022 Russian invasi ...

Grand Prix and the Crystal Globe nomination for ''

His Wife's Diary ''His Wife's Diary'' (russian: Дневник его жены, Dnevnik ego zheny) is a 2000 Russian biographical film directed by Alexei Uchitel. It is a story about the last love affair of Ivan Bunin (played by Andrei Smirnov). It is set in Fren ...

''. The film was about the last love affair of

Ivan Bunin Ivan Alekseyevich Bunin ( or ; rus, Ива́н Алексе́евич Бу́нин, p=ɪˈvan ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ ˈbunʲɪn, a=Ivan Alyeksyeyevich Bunin.ru.vorb.oga; – 8 November 1953) was the first Russian writer awarded the ...

. His 2003 film '' The Stroll'' was entered into the

25th Moscow International Film Festival The 25th Moscow International Film Festival was held from 20 to 29 June 2003. The Golden St. George was awarded to the Italian-Spanish film ''The End of a Mystery'' directed by Miguel Hermoso. Jury * Sergei Bodrov (Russia – President of the J ...

. His 2005 film ''

Dreaming of Space ''Dreaming of Space'' (russian: Космос как предчувствие, Kosmos kak predchuvstvie) is a 2005 Russian drama film directed by Alexei Uchitel. Plot The end of the 1950s. Sputnik 1 has already been launched, but there has not y ...

'' won the Golden George at the 27th Moscow International Film Festival. In 2006, he was a member of the jury at the

28th Moscow International Film Festival The 28th Moscow International Film Festival was held from 23 June to 2 July 2006. The Golden George was awarded to the Swedish film '' About Sara'' directed by Othman Karim. Jury * Andrzej Żuławski (Poland – Head of the Jury) * Alexei Uchi ...

. His 2010 film ''

The Edge David Howell Evans (born 8 August 1961), better known as the Edge or simply Edge,McCormick (2006), pp. 21, 23–24 is an English-born Irish musician, singer, and songwriter. He is best known as the lead guitarist, keyboardist, and backing voca ...

'' was selected as the Russian entry for the

Best Foreign Language Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

at the

83rd Academy Awards The 83rd Academy Awards ceremony, organized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2010 in the United States and took place on February 27, 2011, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles b ...

but it did not make the final shortlist. His film '' Break Loose'' was selected to be screened in the Contemporary World Cinema section at the

2013 Toronto International Film Festival The 38th annual Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) took place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada between September 5 and 15, 2013. '' The Fifth Estate'' was selected as the opening film and '' Life of Crime'' was the closing film. 75 films were ...

. The romantic drama ''

Matilda Matilda or Mathilda may refer to: Animals * Matilda (chicken) (1990–2006), World's Oldest Living Chicken record holder * Matilda (horse) (1824–1846), British Thoroughbred racehorse * Matilda, a dog of the professional wrestling tag-team The ...

'' directed by Uchitel about the relationship between ballerina Matilda Kshesinskaya and

Nicholas II Nicholas II or Nikolai II Alexandrovich Romanov; spelled in pre-revolutionary script. ( 186817 July 1918), known in the Russian Orthodox Church as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer,. was the last Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Pol ...

was released on 23 October 2017. The picture became controversial after State Duma deputy

Natalia Poklonskaya Natalia Vladimirovna Poklonskaya (russian: Наталья Владимировна Поклонская, Natal'ya Vladimirovna Poklonskaya, links=yes (); uk, Наталія Володимирівна Поклонська, translit=Nataliia Volo ...

led a campaign to ban the film on religious grounds.

Personal life

Uchitel was in a relationship with Russian film actress

Yulia Peresild Yulia Sergeevna Peresild (russian: Юлия Сергеевна Пересильд; born 5 September 1984) is a Russian stage and film actress. She is the first professional actress to act in outer space after her spaceflight to the ISS in Octobe ...

with whom he has two daughters, Anna (born 2009) and Maria (born 2012).

Selected filmography

*''Rock'' (1987) *''Last Hero. Victor Tsoi. '' (1992) *''

'' (1996) *''

'' (2000) *'' The Stroll'' (2003) *''

'' (2005) *'' Captive'' (2008) *''

'' (2010) *'' Break Loose'' (2013) *''

'' (2017) *'' Tsoi'' (2020)

References

External links

* * 1951 births Living people Soviet film directors Russian film directors Russian Jews Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography faculty Recipients of the Order of Honour (Russia) People's Artists of Russia Recipients of the Lenin Komsomol Prize Soviet documentary film directors Recipients of the Nika Award Academicians of the Russian Academy of Cinema Arts and Sciences "Nika" {{Russia-film-director-stub