Mikhail Naumovich Kalik (; 27 January 1927 – 31 March 2017) was a Soviet and Israeli film director and screenwriter.
Life and career
A descendant of a prominent
Kyiv
Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...
Jewish family, Mikhail Kalik grew up in the heart of Moscow. As a teenager, he spent the
war in the evacuation in Central Asia. In 1949, he was accepted into the
Moscow Film School (VGIK) where he studied under
Grigori Alexandrov.
In 1951, during the
anti-cosmopolitan campaign under Stalin, he was arrested with several other students and accused of Jewish bourgeois nationalism and planning anti-Soviet terrorist acts.
A sentence of ten years detention was pronounced against him. He was sent to
Lefortovo Prison, then to
Ozerlag labor camp near
Taishet and later to other
GULAG
The Gulag was a system of Labor camp, forced labor camps in the Soviet Union. The word ''Gulag'' originally referred only to the division of the Chronology of Soviet secret police agencies, Soviet secret police that was in charge of runnin ...
sites. He was released and rehabilitated in the era of
de-Stalinization
De-Stalinization () comprised a series of political reforms in the Soviet Union after Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, the death of long-time leader Joseph Stalin in 1953, and Khrushchev Thaw, the thaw brought about by ascension of Nik ...
. He came back to VGIK in 1954 under the direction of
Sergei Yutkevich and graduated in 1958.
His first film was ''Ataman Codr'' codirected with Boris Rytsarev in 1958.
His best known film is ''Man Follows Sun'' (1961), about a young boy who in one day experiences numerous facets of live, in his pursuit to see the sun.
He emigrated to Israel in 1971. Because of the disastrous critical response he did not make a single feature film there after his first Israeli film ''Three and One'' in 1974. Encouraged by Soviet film authorities he directed the autobiographical film ''And the Wind Returneth'' in 1991.
He died on 31 March 2017, after a serious illness. He is buried in Jerusalem.
Filmography
* 1958 – ''
Ataman Codr (Атаман Кодр)''
* 1958 – ''
The Youth of Our Fathers (Юность наших отцов)''
* 1959 – ''
Lullabye (Колыбельная)''
* 1961 – ''
Man Follows the Sun (Человек идёт за солнцем)''
* 1964 – ''
Goodbye, Boys! (До свидания, мальчики)''
* 1968 – ''
To Love (Любить…)''
* 1969 – ''
The Price (Цена)'', TV
* 1974 – ''
Three and One (Трое и одна)''
* 1991 – ''
And the Wind Returneth (И возвращается ветер...)
References
External links
*
Mikhail Kalik at the Jewish Virtual Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kalik, Mikhail
1927 births
2017 deaths
Soviet film directors
Israeli film directors
Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography alumni
Gulag detainees
Soviet Jews