HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Alexander Nikolayevich Sokurov, PAR (; born 14 June 1951) is a Russian filmmaker. His most significant works include a feature film, ''
Russian Ark ''Russian Ark'' () is a 2002 experimental historical drama film directed by Alexander Sokurov. The plot follows an unnamed narrator, who wanders through the Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg, and implies that he died in some horrible accident a ...
'' (2002), filmed in a single unedited shot, and ''
Faust Faust ( , ) is the protagonist of a classic German folklore, German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust (). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a deal with the Devil at a ...
'' (2011), which was honoured with the
Golden Lion The Golden Lion () is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee and is regarded as one of the film industry's most prestigious and distinguished prizes. In 1970, a ...
, the highest prize for the best film at the
Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival (, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival held in Venice, Italy. It is the world's oldest film festival and one of the ...
.


Life and work

Sokurov was born in Podorvikha,
Irkutsky District Irkutsky District () is an administrative district, one of the thirty-three in Irkutsk Oblast, Russia.Charter of Irkutsk Oblast, Article 13 Municipally, it is incorporated as Irkutsky Municipal District.Law #94-oz It is located in the south ...
, in Siberia, into a military officer's family. He graduated from the History Department of the Nizhny Novgorod University in 1974 and entered one of the
VGIK The Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography, officially the S. A. Gerasimov All-Russian University of Cinematography (, meaning ''All-Russian State Institute of Cinematography named after S. A. Gerasimov''), a.k.a. VGIK, is a film school in Moscow, ...
studios the following year. There he became friends with
Tarkovsky Andrei Arsenyevich Tarkovsky (, ; 4 April 1932 – 29 December 1986) was a Soviet film director and screenwriter of Russian origin. He is widely considered one of the greatest directors in cinema history. His films explore spiritual and metap ...
and was deeply influenced by his film ''
Mirror A mirror, also known as a looking glass, is an object that Reflection (physics), reflects an image. Light that bounces off a mirror forms an image of whatever is in front of it, which is then focused through the lens of the eye or a camera ...
''. Most of Sokurov's early features were banned by Soviet authorities. During his early period, he produced numerous documentaries, including '' The Dialogues with Solzhenitsyn'' and a reportage about
Grigori Kozintsev Grigori Mikhailovich Kozintsev (11 May 1973, born Grigori Moiseyevich Kozintsov) was a Soviet theatre and film director, screenwriter and pedagogue. He was named People's Artist of the USSR in 1964. In 1965 he was a member of the jury at the ...
's flat in Saint Petersburg. His film ''
Mournful Unconcern ''Mournful Unconcern'' (, translit. ''Skorbnoye beschuvstviye'') is the third produced film by Alexander Sokurov, completed in 1983, but the fourth released one, as it was banned by Soviet authorities until perestroika in 1987. The film, set ...
'' was nominated for the
Golden Bear The Golden Bear () is the highest prize awarded for the best film at the Berlin International Film Festival and is, along with the Palme d'Or and the Golden Lion, the most important international film festival award. The bear is the heraldic an ...
at the
37th Berlin International Film Festival The 37th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 20 February to 3 March 1987. The Golden Bear was awarded to the Soviet film ''The Theme, Tema'', directed by Gleb Panfilov. The retrospective was in honour of Armenian-American fi ...
in 1987. ''
Mother and Son ''Mother and Son'' is an Australian television sitcom that was broadcast on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) from 16 January 1984 until 21 March 1994. The show stars Ruth Cracknell, Garry McDonald, Henri Szeps and Judy Morris. ...
'' (1997) was his first internationally acclaimed feature film. It was entered into the
20th Moscow International Film Festival The 20th Moscow International Film Festival was held from 19 to 29 July 1997. The Golden St. George was awarded to the American film '' Marvin's Room'' directed by Jerry Zaks. Jury * Oleg Menshikov (Russia – President of the Jury) * Georgi ...
where it won the Special Silver St. George. It was mirrored by '' Father and Son'' (2003), which baffled the critics with its implicit
homoeroticism Homoeroticism is sexual attraction between members of the same sex, including both male–male and female–female attraction. The concept differs from the concept of homosexuality: it refers specifically to the desire itself, which can be tempor ...
(though Sokurov himself has criticized this particular interpretation).
Susan Sontag Susan Lee Sontag (; January 16, 1933 – December 28, 2004) was an American writer, critic, and public intellectual. She mostly wrote essays, but also published novels; she published her first major work, the essay "Notes on "Camp", Notes on 'Ca ...
included two Sokurov features among her ten favorite films of the 1990s, saying: "There’s no director active today whose films I admire as much." In 2006, he received the Master of Cinema Award of the
International Filmfestival Mannheim-Heidelberg The Mannheim-Heidelberg International Film Festival (), often referred to by the German-language initialism IFFMH, is an annual film festival established in 1952 hosted jointly by the cities of Mannheim and Heidelberg in Baden-Württemberg, the ...
. Sokurov is a
Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...
regular, with four of his movies having debuted there. However, until 2011, Sokurov didn't win top awards at major international festivals. For a long time, his most commercially and critically successful film was the semi-documentary ''Russian Ark'' (2002), acclaimed primarily for its visually hypnotic images and single unedited shot. Sokurov has filmed a
tetralogy A tetralogy (from Greek τετρα- ''tetra-'', "four" and -λογία ''-logia'', "discourse") is a compound work that is made up of four distinct works. The name comes from the Attic theater, in which a tetralogy was a group of three tragedies ...
exploring the corrupting effects of power. The first three installments were dedicated to prominent 20th-century rulers: ''
Moloch Moloch, Molech, or Molek is a word which appears in the Hebrew Bible several times, primarily in the Book of Leviticus. The Greek Septuagint translates many of these instances as "their king", but maintains the word or name ''Moloch'' in others, ...
'' (1999), about
Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...
, ''
Taurus Taurus is Latin for 'bull' and may refer to: * Taurus (astrology), the astrological sign ** Vṛṣabha, in vedic astrology * Taurus (constellation), one of the constellations of the zodiac * Taurus (mythology), one of two Greek mythological ch ...
'' (2001), about
Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...
, and ''
The Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot Plasma (physics), plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as ...
'' (2005) about
Hirohito , Posthumous name, posthumously honored as , was the 124th emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession, from 25 December 1926 until Death and state funeral of Hirohito, his death in 1989. He remains Japan's longest-reigni ...
. In 2011, Sokurov shot the last part of the series, ''Faust'', a retelling of Goethe's tragedy. The film, depicting instincts and schemes of
Faust Faust ( , ) is the protagonist of a classic German folklore, German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust (). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a deal with the Devil at a ...
in his lust for power, premiered on 8 September 2011 in competition at the
68th Venice International Film Festival The 68th annual Venice Film Festival, Venice International Film Festival was held from 31 August and 10 September 2011, at Venice Lido in Italy. American filmmaker Darren Aronofsky was the jury president for the main competition. Italian actre ...
. The film won the
Golden Lion The Golden Lion () is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee and is regarded as one of the film industry's most prestigious and distinguished prizes. In 1970, a ...
, the highest award of the Venice Festival. Producer Andrey Sigle said about ''Faust'': "The film has no particular relevance to contemporary events in the worldit is set in the early 19th centurybut reflects Sokurov's enduring attempts to understand man and his inner forces." The military world of the former USSR is one of Sokurov's ongoing interests, because of his personal connections to the subject and because the military marked the lives of a large part of population of the USSR. Three of his works, ''Spiritual Voices: From the Diaries of a War, Confession,'' ''From the Commander’s Diary'' and ''Soldier’s Dream'' revolve around military life. ''Confession'' has been screened at several independent film festivals, while the other two are virtually unknown. In 1994 Sokurov accompanied Russian troops to a post on the Tajikistan-Afghanistan border. The result was ''Spiritual Voices: From the Diaries of a War,'' a 327-minute cinematic meditation on the war and the spirit of the Russian army.
Landscape photography Landscape photography (often shortened to landscape photos) captures the world's outdoor spaces, sometimes vast and unending and other times microscopic. Landscape photographs typically capture the presence of nature but can also focus on human-ma ...
is featured in the film, but the music (including works by Mozart, Messiaen and Beethoven) and the sound are also particularly important. Soldiers' jargon and the combination of animal sounds, sighs and other location sounds in the fog and other visual effects give the film a phantasmagorical feel. The film brings together all the elements that characterize Sokurov's films: long takes, elaborate filming and image processing methods, a mix of documentary and fiction, the importance of the landscape and the sense of a filmmaker who brings transcendence to everyday gestures. On the journey from Russia to the border post, in the film, fear never leaves the faces of the young soldiers. Sokurov captures their physical toil and their mental desolation, as well as daily rituals such as meals, sharing tobacco, writing letters and cleaning duties. There is no start or end to the dialogues; Sokurov negates conventional narrative structure. The final part of the film celebrates the arrival of the New Year, 1995, but the happiness is fleeting. The following day, everything remains the same: the endless waiting at a border post, the fear and the desolation. In '' Confession: From the Commander’s Diary,'' Sokurov films officers from the Russian Navy, showing the monotony and lack of freedom of their everyday lives. The dialogue allows us to follow the reflections of a Ship Commander. Sokurov and his crew went aboard a naval patrol ship headed for Kuvshinka, a naval base in the
Murmansk Murmansk () is a port city and the administrative center of Murmansk Oblast in the far Far North (Russia), northwest part of Russia. It is the world's largest city north of the Arctic Circle and sits on both slopes and banks of a modest fjord, Ko ...
region, in the
Barents Sea The Barents Sea ( , also ; , ; ) is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located off the northern coasts of Norway and Russia and divided between Norwegian and Russian territorial waters.World Wildlife Fund, 2008. It was known earlier among Russi ...
. Confined within the limited space of a ship anchored in Arctic waters, the team filmed the sailors as they went about their routine activities. ''Soldier's Dream'' is another Sokurov film that deals with military themes. It contains no dialogue. This film actually came out of the material edited for one of the scenes in part three of ''Spiritual Voices''. ''Soldier's Dream'' was screened at the Oberhausen Film Festival in Germany in 1995when ''Spiritual Voices'' was still at the editing stageas Sokurov's homage to the art critic and historian Hans Schlegel, in acknowledgement of his contributions in support of Eastern European filmmakers.Spiritual Voices
Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona. Original text licensed CC BY-SA by MACBA
He suffers from severe eyesight problems.


Studio

In 2010 Sokurov launched his personal course at the
Kabardino-Balkarian State University Kabardino-Balkarian State University (KBSU); ''Kabardino_Balkarskii gosudarstvennii universitet imeni H. M. Berbekova'', often abbreviated КБГУ, ''KBSU'') is a coeducational and public research university located in Nalchik, Kabardino-Balk ...
in
Nalchik Nalchik (, ; ; ) is the capital city of Kabardino-Balkaria, Russia, situated at an altitude of in the foothills of the Caucasus Mountains; about northwest of Beslan (Beslan is in the Republic of North Ossetia–Alania). It covers an area of ...
. In 2015, 12 students graduated from his course; among them were such rising stars of cinema, as
Kantemir Balagov Kantemir Arturovich Balagov (, ; born 28 July 1991) is a director of Circassians, Circassian descent, screenwriter and cinematographer from the Republic of Kabardino-Balkaria, in the North Caucasian region of the Russian Federation. He has direc ...
, Vladimir Bitokov, Kira Kovalenko, and Alexander Zolotukhin.


Political stance

During a December 2016 meeting of the Council for Culture and Arts, Sokurov appealed to President
Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...
to reconsider the verdict against filmmaker
Oleg Sentsov Oleh Hennadiiovych SentsovNosorih (Rhino)
labiennale.org ...
(which Putin refused). In 2022, Sokurov criticized the Kremlin and opposed the
Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...
. For this, in June 2022 he was denied the right to leave Russia. Sokurov's film ''
Fairytale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, household tale, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic, enchantments, and mythical or fanciful being ...
'' was banned in Russia. No specific reason was given, only subparagraph “zh” of the rules on the issuance of release certificates was cited: “in other cases determined by federal laws.” Sokurov emphasized that censorship is prohibited in Russia and no one has the right to restrict the Russian audience’s access to works of art. “Because the movie has already been shown and is being shown all over the world,” he said.


Filmography


Feature films


Other works

*'' The Degraded'' (Разжалованный, 1980) *''Sonata for Viola. Dmitri Shostakovitch'' (1981) *''
Empire An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outpost (military), outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a hegemony, dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the ...
'' (Ампир, 1986) *''Elegy'' (1986) *''And Nothing More'' (1987) *''Evening Sacrifice'' (1987) *''Patience of Labour'' (1987) *''Maria (Peasant Elegy)'' (1988) *'' Moscow Elegy'' (1988) *''Sonata for Hitler'' (1989) *''Soviet Elegy'' (1989) *''Petersburg Elegy'' (1990) *''To The Events In Transcaucasia'' (1990) *''A Simple Elegy'' (1990) *''A Retrospection of Leningrad'' (1957–1990) (1990) *''An Example of Intonation'' (1991) *''Elegy from Russia'' (1992) *''Soldier's Dream'' (1995) *''Spiritual Voices'' (1995) *''Oriental Elegy'' (1996) *''Robert. A Fortunate Life'' (1997) *''A Humble Life'' (1997) *''The St. Petersburg Diary: Inauguration of a monument to Dostoevsky'' (1997) *''The St. Petersburg Diary: Kosintsev's Flat'' (1998) *''
Confession A confession is a statement – made by a person or by a group of people – acknowledging some personal fact that the person (or the group) would ostensibly prefer to keep hidden. The term presumes that the speaker is providing information that ...
'' (1998) *'' The Dialogues with Solzhenitsyn'' (1998) *''dolce…'' (1999) *''Elegy of a Voyage'' (2001) *''The St. Petersburg Diary: Mozart. Requiem'' (2004) *''Elegy of a life: Rostropovich, Vishnevskaya'' (2006)


Awards

*
Locarno International Film Festival The Locarno International Film Festival is a major international film festival, held annually in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narr ...
, Bronze Leopard ( The Lonely Voice of Man, 1987) *
Moscow International Film Festival The Moscow International Film Festival (, Transliteration, translit. ''Moskóvskiy myezhdunaródniy kinofyestivál''; abbreviated as MIFF) is a film festival first held in Moscow in 1935 and became regular since 1959. From its inception to ...
, FIPRESCI Award (out of competition, The Lonely Voice of Man, 1987) *
Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...
, Award of the Forum special programme (
Days of Eclipse ''Days of Eclipse'' () (or, '' The Days of Eclipse, Dni Zatmenija, Días de eclipse'') is a 1988 Soviet film directed by Alexander Sokurov. The screenplay is by Yuri Arabov and Pyotr Kadochnikov based on a screenplay by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky ...
, 1989) *
International Film Festival Rotterdam International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) is an annual film festival held at the end of January in various locations in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, focused on independent and experimental films. The inaugural festival took place in June 1972, ...
, FIPRESCI Award, KNF Award (Elegy, A Simple Elegy, 1991) *
State Prize of the Russian Federation The State Prize of the Russian Federation, officially translated in Russia as Russian Federation National Award, is a state honorary prize established in 1992 following the breakup of the Soviet Union. In 2004 the rules for selection of laureates ...
(
Mother and Son ''Mother and Son'' is an Australian television sitcom that was broadcast on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) from 16 January 1984 until 21 March 1994. The show stars Ruth Cracknell, Garry McDonald, Henri Szeps and Judy Morris. ...
, 1997) *
State Prize of the Russian Federation The State Prize of the Russian Federation, officially translated in Russia as Russian Federation National Award, is a state honorary prize established in 1992 following the breakup of the Soviet Union. In 2004 the rules for selection of laureates ...
(
Moloch Moloch, Molech, or Molek is a word which appears in the Hebrew Bible several times, primarily in the Book of Leviticus. The Greek Septuagint translates many of these instances as "their king", but maintains the word or name ''Moloch'' in others, ...
,
Taurus Taurus is Latin for 'bull' and may refer to: * Taurus (astrology), the astrological sign ** Vṛṣabha, in vedic astrology * Taurus (constellation), one of the constellations of the zodiac * Taurus (mythology), one of two Greek mythological ch ...
, 2001) *
Russian Guild of Film Critics The Russian Guild of Film Critics () is a Russian organization of professional film critics, headquartered in Moscow. Beginning in 1998, the guild began conferring annual awards in several categories. The awards were called the "Golden Ram" or ...
Prize for Best Director (
Taurus Taurus is Latin for 'bull' and may refer to: * Taurus (astrology), the astrological sign ** Vṛṣabha, in vedic astrology * Taurus (constellation), one of the constellations of the zodiac * Taurus (mythology), one of two Greek mythological ch ...
, 2001) *
Nika Award The Nika Award (sometimes styled NIKA Award) is the main annual national film award in Russia, presented by the Russian Academy of Cinema Arts and Science, and seen as the national equivalent of the Oscars. In 2022 nominees were announced, b ...
for Best Director and Best Picture (
Taurus Taurus is Latin for 'bull' and may refer to: * Taurus (astrology), the astrological sign ** Vṛṣabha, in vedic astrology * Taurus (constellation), one of the constellations of the zodiac * Taurus (mythology), one of two Greek mythological ch ...
, 2001) *
Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...
, IFC Vision Award (
Russian Ark ''Russian Ark'' () is a 2002 experimental historical drama film directed by Alexander Sokurov. The plot follows an unnamed narrator, who wanders through the Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg, and implies that he died in some horrible accident a ...
, 2002) *
São Paulo International Film Festival The São Paulo International Film Festival (), also known internationally as Mostra, is an annual film festival held in the city of São Paulo, Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South Ame ...
, Special Award for Lifetime Achievements (2002) *
Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...
, FIPRESCI Award ( Father and Son, 2003) *
Argentine Film Critics Association The Argentine Film Critics Association () is an organization of Argentine-based journalism, journalists and correspondents. The association presents the ''Silver Condor Awards'' (''Premios Cóndor de Plata'') honoring achievements in Argentina, Ar ...
, The Silver Condor Award (
Russian Ark ''Russian Ark'' () is a 2002 experimental historical drama film directed by Alexander Sokurov. The plot follows an unnamed narrator, who wanders through the Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg, and implies that he died in some horrible accident a ...
, 2004) *
Yerevan International Film Festival The ''Golden Apricot'' Yerevan International Film Festival (GAIFF; ) is an annual film festival held in Yerevan, Armenia. The festival was founded in 2004 with the co-operation of the "Golden Apricot" Fund for Cinema Development, the Armenian A ...
, Golden Apricot for Best Picture (
The Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot Plasma (physics), plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as ...
, 2005) *
Locarno International Film Festival The Locarno International Film Festival is a major international film festival, held annually in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narr ...
, Leopard of Honour for Lifetime Achievements (2006) *
Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival (, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival held in Venice, Italy. It is the world's oldest film festival and one of the ...
, Robert Bresson Award for spiritual search and promotion of human culture (2007) *
Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival (, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival held in Venice, Italy. It is the world's oldest film festival and one of the ...
,
Golden Lion The Golden Lion () is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee and is regarded as one of the film industry's most prestigious and distinguished prizes. In 1970, a ...
for Best Picture (
Faust Faust ( , ) is the protagonist of a classic German folklore, German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust (). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a deal with the Devil at a ...
, 2011) *
FEST Fest or FEST may refer to: Arts and entertainment * The Fest, a music festival in Gainesville, Florida, U.S. (since 2002) * FEST (film festival), Belgrade, Serbia (since 1971) * '' Fest Magazine'', a Scottish periodical (since 2002) * Fest, a fi ...
, ''Belgrade Winner Award'' for his lifetime contribution to the art of film (2015) *
International Film Festival of Kerala The International Film Festival of Kerala (abbreviated as IFFK) is a film festival held annually in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala, India. This film festival started in 1996 and is hosted by the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy ...
, ''Lifetime Achievement Award'' for his lifetime contribution to world cinema (2017)


See also

*'' Sokurov's Voice'' (2014 documentary film)


References


Sources

*''The Cinema of Alexander Sokurov'' (Kino – The Russian Cinema), ed. by Birgit Beumers and Nancy Condee, London: Tauris I B, 2011


External links


Sokurov's home page
*

Stephen M. Norris,
Russia Beyond the Headlines ''Russia Beyond'' (formerly ''Russia Beyond The Headlines'') is a Russian multilingual project operated by RT (formerly ''Russia Today'') parent ANO TV-Novosti, founded by the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti. History ''Russia Beyond Th ...
, 23 December 2009 {{DEFAULTSORT:Sokurov, Alexander 1951 births Living people People from Irkutsk Oblast Soviet film directors Russian film directors Soviet screenwriters Soviet male screenwriters 20th-century Russian screenwriters Russian male screenwriters 20th-century Russian male writers Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography alumni German-language film directors Directors of Golden Lion winners Officiers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Recipients of the Nika Award People's Artists of Russia State Prize of the Russian Federation laureates Academicians of the Russian Academy of Cinema Arts and Sciences "Nika" Honored Workers of the Arts Industry of the Russian Federation