Igor Andreyevich Savchenko (russian: Игорь Андреевич Са́вченко) or Ihor Andriyovych Savchenko ( uk, І́гор Андрі́йович Са́вченко; 11 October 1906 – 14 December 1950) was a

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

and

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, ...

, often cited as one of the great early

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

filmmakers, alongside

Sergei Eisenstein Sergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein (russian: Сергей Михайлович Эйзенштейн, p=sʲɪrˈɡʲej mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪtɕ ɪjzʲɪnˈʂtʲejn, 2=Sergey Mikhaylovich Eyzenshteyn; 11 February 1948) was a Soviet film director, scre ...

Vsevolod Pudovkin Vsevolod Illarionovich Pudovkin ( rus, Всеволод Илларионович Пудовкин, p=ˈfsʲevələt ɪlərʲɪˈonəvʲɪtɕ pʊˈdofkʲɪn; 16 February 1893 – 30 June 1953) was a Russian and Soviet film director, screenwriter ...

and

Aleksandr Dovzhenko Oleksandr Petrovych Dovzhenko or Alexander Petrovich Dovzhenko ( uk, Олександр Петрович Довженко, ''Oleksandr Petrovych Dovzhenko''; russian: Алекса́ндр Петро́вич Довже́нко, ''Aleksandr Petro ...

. He is also known for teaching

Sergei Parajanov Sergei Parajanov, ka, სერგო ფარაჯანოვი, uk, Сергій Параджанов (January 9, 1924 – July 20, 1990) was an Armenian filmmaker. Parajanov is regarded by film critics, film historians and filmmakers t ...

at the Russian film school

VGIK The Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography (russian: Всероссийский государственный институт кинематографии имени Sergei Gerasimov (film director), С. А. Герасимова, meaning ''All-R ...

, also attended by Parajanov's best friend

Mikhail Vartanov Mikhail Vartanov (russian: Михаил Вартанов, links=no, hy, Միքայել Վարդանով, links=no, french: Mikhaïl Vartanov, links=no; b. February 21, 1937, RSFSR, Soviet Union, now Russian Federation, d. December 31, 2009, Holl ...

Life and career

Igor Andreyevich Savchenko was born on 11 October 1906 in

Vinnytsia Vinnytsia ( ; uk, Вінниця, ; yi, װיניצע) is a city in west-central Ukraine, located on the banks of the Southern Bug. It is the Capital city, administrative center of Vinnytsia Oblast and the largest city in the historic region o ...

(now Ukraine). In 1926–1929, he studied at the Leningrad Institute of Performing Arts. In 1932, he performed on stage and on the Moscow tram. In 1931, he began working as a film director. In 1934, he directed one of the first Soviet musical comedies, Accordion (poem by Alexander Zharov), about the life of Komsomol village, where he played the role of a

kulak Kulak (; russian: кула́к, r=kulák, p=kʊˈlak, a=Ru-кулак.ogg; plural: кулаки́, ''kulakí'', 'fist' or 'tight-fisted'), also kurkul () or golchomag (, plural: ), was the term which was used to describe peasants who owned ove ...

's son. The theme of the Civil War in Ukraine, the heroic past of Ukrainian and Russian peoples formed the basis of the film "

The Ballad of Cossack Golota The Ballad of Cossack Golota (russian: Дума про казака Голоту) is a 1937 Soviet action drama film directed by Igor Savchenko. Plot The film is based on the novel '' R.V.S.'' by Arkady Gaidar. The film takes place in 1920 duri ...

" (from a story by

Arkady Gaidar Arkady Petrovich Gaidar (russian: link=no, Арка́дий Петро́вич Гайда́р, born Golikov, russian: link=no, Го́ликов; – 26 October 1941) was a Russian Soviet writer, whose stories were very popular among Soviet chil ...

" R.V.S.", 1937) and the film the legend "Riders" (in Yury Janowski). He directed the 1941 drama "Bogdan Khmelnitsky" from a script by

Oleksandr Korniychuk Oleksandr Yevdokymovych Korniychuk (russian: Алекса́ндр Евдоки́мович Корнейчу́к, uk, Олександр Євдокимович Корнійчук, 25 May 2 o.s. 1905 – 14 May 1972) was a Ukrainian playwright, lit ...

. The film is about the struggle of the Ukrainian nation and its freedom-loving tradition. In 1946, the director returned to comedy, directing one of the first Soviet color feature films "Old vaudeville" (in vaudeville "Az and dandy" by Pavel Fyodorov ). The film emphasized the patriotism of the Russian people in the Patriotic War of 1812, and also paid tribute to a popular topic in the postwar year, ridiculing the German nation. Events of the Great Patriotic War were covered in the films "Guerrillas in the steppes of Ukraine" (1942, based on the play by Korniychuk and " Ivan Nikulin: Russian Sailor" (1944, based on novel by Leonid Solovyov).Киноведческие записки
/ref> His film "Third Strike" (1948) was about the impact of the Third Red Army. Its battle scenes were later criticized as yet another monument to the

Stalin era Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...

. His premature death interrupted the film "

Taras Shevchenko Taras Hryhorovych Shevchenko ( uk, Тарас Григорович Шевченко , pronounced without the middle name; – ), also known as Kobzar Taras, or simply Kobzar (a kobzar is a bard in Ukrainian culture), was a Ukrainian poet, writ ...

" (1951, finished

Alexander Alov Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Alov (russian: Алекса́ндр Алекса́ндрович А́лов) (September 26, 1923 – June 12, 1983) was a Soviet film director and screenwriter, he was granted the honorary title of People's Artist o ...

, Vladimir Naumov, Latif Faiziev). The film is about the life of Ukrainian poet

during feudal Russia 1840-1860. Since the 1960s, his films rarely appear on TV or are not shown at all. In 1946, he headed a workshop at the Institute of Cinematography. Among his students: Alov, Naumov, Genrikh Gabai, Latif Faiziev, Felix Mironer, Yuri Ozerov,

Marlen Khutsiev Marlen Martynovich Khutsiev (russian: Марле́н Марты́нович Хуци́ев; 4 October 1925 – 19 March 2019) was a Georgian-born Soviet and Russian filmmaker best known for his cult films from the 1960s, which include '' I Am Twe ...

, Alexei Korenev, Yuri Zakrevsky, Lev Ivanov, Lev Danilov. Savchenko died on 14 December 1950 and was buried in Moscow at the Novodevichy Cemetery (plot number 4).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Savchenko, Igor Andreyevich Soviet film directors Academic staff of the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography 1906 births 1950 deaths Writers from Vinnytsia Stalin Prize winners Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic people Burials at Novodevichy Cemetery Soviet screenwriters Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Communist Party of the Soviet Union members