Marlen Martynovich Khutsiev (4 October 192519 March 2019) was a Georgian-born

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

n filmmaker best known for his

cult film A cult film, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a cult following. Cult films are known for their dedicated, passionate fanbase, which forms an elaborate subculture, members of which engage in repeated ...

s from the 1960s, which include '' I Am Twenty'' and '' July Rain''. He was named a

People's Artist of the USSR People's Artist of the USSR, also sometimes translated as National Artist of the USSR, was an honorary title granted to artists of the Soviet Union. The term is confusingly used to translate two Russian language titles: Народный арти ...

in 1986.

Biography

Khutsiev's father, Martyn Levanovich Khutsishvili ( ka, მარტინ ლევანის ძე ხუციშვილი) (the family's original Georgian

surname In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several give ...

, Khutsishvili), was a lifelong

Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

who was purged in 1937. His mother, Nina Mikhailovna Utenelishvili ( ka, ნინა მიხეილის ასული უტენელიშვილი) was an actress. Khutsiev studied film in the directing department at the

Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography 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, ...

(VGIK), graduating in 1952. He worked as a director at the Odessa film studio from 1952 to 1958, and worked full-time as a director at

Mosfilm Mosfilm (, ''Mosfil’m'' , initialism and portmanteau of Moscow Films) is a film studio in Moscow which is among the largest and oldest in the Russian Federation and in Europe. Founded in 1924 in the USSR as a production unit of that nation's fi ...

from 1965 onward. Khutsiev's first feature film, '' Spring on Zarechnaya Street'' (1956), encapsulated the mood of the

Khrushchev Thaw The Khrushchev Thaw (, or simply ''ottepel'')William Taubman, Khrushchev: The Man and His Era, London: Free Press, 2004 is the period from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s when Political repression in the Soviet Union, repression and Censorship in ...

and went on to become one of the top box-office draws of the 1950s. Three years later, Khutsiev launched

Vasily Shukshin Vasily Makarovich Shukshin (; 25 July 1929 – 2 October 1974) was a Soviet Russian writer, actor, screenwriter and film director from the Altai region who specialized in rural themes. A prominent member of the Village Prose movement, he beg ...

"as a new kind of popular hero" by starring him in ''Two Fyodors''.Quoted from: ''Stalinism and Soviet Cinema'', ed. by Richard Taylor, D. W. Spring. Routledge, 1993. p. 168. His two masterpieces of the 1960s, however, were panned by the authorities, forcing Khutsiev into something of an artistic silence. In 1978, Khutsiev began teaching film directing master classes at the VGIK.) His 1991 film '' Infinitas'' won the

Alfred Bauer Prize The Alfred Bauer Prize was an annual film award, presented by the Berlin International Film Festival, as part of its Silver Bear series of awards, to a film that "opens new perspectives on cinematic art". The prize was suspended in 2020 after it ...

at the

42nd Berlin International Film Festival The 42nd annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 13 to 24 February 1992. The festival opened with '' The Inner Circle'' by Andrei Konchalovsky. The Golden Bear was awarded to American film ''Grand Canyon'' directed by Lawrence K ...

Selected filmography

Honours and awards

Order of Merit for the Fatherland Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * ...

; **2nd class (29 May 2006) for outstanding contributions to the development of national cinema and many years of creative activity **3rd class (25 December 2000) for outstanding contribution to the development of cinema art **4th class (9 April 1996) for services to the state, many years of fruitful work in the arts and culture * Order of Honour (5 October 2010) for outstanding contribution to the development of the domestic art of film and many years of creative activity *

Order of the Badge of Honour The Order of the Badge of Honour () was a civilian award of the Soviet Union. It was established on 25 November 1935, and was conferred on citizens of the USSR for outstanding achievements in sports, production, scientific research and socia ...

(1975) * Jubilee Medal "In Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary since the Birth of Vladimir Il'ich Lenin" (1970) *

(1986) * People's Artist of the RSFSR (1977) *

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 ...

(7 December 1993) * Special Prize of the Russian Federation President (12 June 1999) for outstanding contribution to the development of Russian cinema * "Golden Aries" award and winner of The Man Film of the Year (1995) * Prize of the city of St. Petersburg he is a living legend of the national cinema — V Festival Viva Cinema of Russia (1997) * Moscow Mayor's Award (1999) - a unique contribution to the development of culture in Moscow * National Award in the field of documentary film and television laurel branch for 2002 in the category for contribution to Cinema Chronicle * Triumph Award (2004) *

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 ...

in the honour and dignity (2006)

Notes

References

External links

*
Russian Director Marlen Khutsiev Dies at 93
{{DEFAULTSORT:Khutsiev, Marlen Film directors from Georgia (country) Soviet film directors 1925 births 2019 deaths People's Artists of the USSR Recipients of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 2nd class Recipients of the Order of Honour (Russia) People's Artists of the RSFSR State Prize of the Russian Federation laureates Recipients of the Nika Award Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography alumni Honorary members of the Russian Academy of Arts Academicians of the Russian Academy of Cinema Arts and Sciences "Nika" Academic staff of High Courses for Scriptwriters and Film Directors Emigrants from Georgia (country) to Russia Film people from Tbilisi Academicians of the National Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences of Russia Burials in Troyekurovskoye Cemetery