Top 100 Russian/Soviet Directors

1. Yakov Protazanov

Yakov Protazanov was born on February 4, 1881 in Moscow, Russian Empire [now Russia]. He was a director and writer, known for A Narrow Escape (1920), Without Dowry (1937) and Kak khoroshi, kak svezhi byli rozy (1913). He died on August 9, 1945 in Moscow, Russian SFSR, USSR [now Russia].

2. Yevgeny Bauer

Director | Coachman, don't drive the horses

Yevgeni Bauer was the most important filmmaker of the early Russian cinema, who made about eighty silent films in 5 years before the Russian Revolution of 1917.

He was born Yevgeni Frantsevich Bauer in 1865, in Moscow, Russia, into an artistic family. His father, Franz Bauer, was a renown musician ...

3. Vsevolod Meyerhold

Actor | Portret Doryana Greya

Vsevolod Meyerhold was born Karl Theodor Kazimir Emil Meyerhold in 1874, in Penza, Russia, into the Russian-German family of Emil Meyerhold. He converted to Orthodox Christianity on his 21st birthday and took the name of Vsevolod in memory of the Russian writer Vsevolod Garshin. After conversion ...

4. Dimitri Buchowetzki

Director | Valencia

Dimitri Buchowetzki was born in 1885 in Russia. He was a director and writer, known for Valencia (1926), Danton (1921) and The Swan (1925). He died in 1932 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

5. Alexandre Volkoff

Director | Amore imperiale

Alexandre Volkoff was born on December 27, 1885 in Moscow, Russian Empire [now Russia]. He was a director and writer, known for Amore imperiale (1941), La maison du mystère (1923) and Kean (1924). He died on May 22, 1942 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.

6. Sergei Eisenstein

Director | Ivan Groznyy

The son of an affluent architect, Eisenstein attended the Institute of Civil Engineering in Petrograd as a young man. With the fall of the tsar in 1917, he worked as an engineer for the Red Army. In the following years, Eisenstein joined up with the Moscow Proletkult Theater as a set designer and ...

7. Amo Bek-Nazaryan

Director | Zangezur

A pioneer of cinema in Armenia and the Caucasus, Amo Bek-Nazaryan began his career as a professional athlete. However, he later discovered film, joined the cinema as an actor in 1914, and soon became one of the major stars in the pre-Soviet Russian cinema. In 1918, he graduated from the Moscow ...

8. Lev Kuleshov

Director | Po zakonu

Lev Kuleshov was a Russian director who used the editing technique known as the "Kuleshov effect." Although some of the editing innovations, such as crosscutting were used by other directors before him, Kuleshov was the first to use it in the Soviet Russia. he was driving a Ford sports car amidst ...

9. Viktor Tourjansky

Director | I cosacchi

Viktor Tourjansky was a Russian film director who emigrated after the communist revolution of 1917, and worked in France, Germany, USA, UK, and Italy.

He was born Viacheslav Konstantinovich Turzhanski on March 4, 1891, in Kiev, Ukraine, Russian Empire (now Kiyiv, Ukraine). Studied painting and art ...

10. Mikhail Doller

Producer | Minin i Pozharskiy

Mikhail Doller was born in 1889 in Vilna, Russian Empire [now Vilnius, Lithuania]. He was a director and actor, known for Minin i Pozharskiy (1939), General Suvorov (1941) and Salamander (1928). He died on March 15, 1952 in Moscow, RSFSR, USSR [now Russia].

11. Abram Room

Director | Nashestvie

Abram Room was born on June 28, 1894 in Vilna, Russian Empire [now Vilnius, Lithuania]. He was a director and writer, known for Nashestvie (1945), Sud chesti (1949) and Belated Flowers (1970). He died on July 26, 1976 in Moscow, Russian SFSR, USSR [now Russia].

12. Vsevolod Pudovkin

Director | Admiral Nakhimov

Vsevolod Pudovkin was born on February 28, 1893 in Penza, Russian Empire [now Russia]. He was a director and actor, known for Admiral Nakhimov (1947), Zhukovsky (1950) and Minin i Pozharskiy (1939). He was married to Anna Zemtsova. He died on June 30, 1953 in Jurmala, Latvian SSR, USSR [now Latvia].

13. Grigoriy Aleksandrov

Director | Vesna

Grigori Aleksandrov was a Soviet-Russian filmmaker best known as director of Volga - Volga (1938), The Circus (1936), and October (Ten Days that Shook the World) (1927), as well as co-star in Battleship Potemkin (1925) by director Sergei Eisenstein.

He was born Grigori Vasilyevich Mormonenko on ...

14. Dziga Vertov

Director | Chelovek s kino-apparatom

Dziga Vertov was born on January 2, 1896 in Bialystok, Grodno Governorate, Russian Empire [now Podlaskie, Poland]. He was a director and writer, known for Man with a Movie Camera (1929), Three Songs About Lenin (1934) and The Sixth Part of the World (1926). He was married to Elizaveta Svilova. He ...

15. Fridrikh Ermler

Director | Velikaya sila

Fridrikh Ermler was born on May 13, 1898 in Rechitsa, Vitebsk Governorate, Russian Empire [now Rezekne, Latvia]. He was a director and writer, known for The Great Force (1951), Great Citizen (1938) and The Turning Point (1945). He died on July 12, 1967 in Leningrad, USSR [now St. Petersburg, Russia...

16. Aleksandr Dovzhenko

Writer | Zemlya

Aleksandr Dovzhenko was born on September 10, 1894 in Vyunishche, Sosnitsa Ueyzd, Chernigov Governorate, Russian Empire [now Sosnitsa, Sosnitsa Raion, Chernihiv Oblast, Ukraine]. He was a writer and director, known for Earth (1930), Shors (1939) and Life in Bloom (1949). He was married to Yuliya ...

17. Boris Barnet

Director | Miss Mend

Boris Barnet was born on June 18, 1902 in Moscow, Russian Empire [now Russia]. He was a director and actor, known for The Adventures of the Three Reporters (1926), Secret Agent (1947) and Okraina (1933). He was married to Yelena Kuzmina, Natalia Glan, Alla Kazanskaya and Valentina Barnet. He died ...

18. Amasi Martirosyan

Director | Gikor

Amasi Martirosyan was born on April 18, 1897 in Erivan, Russian Empire [now Yerevan, Armenia]. He was a director and actor, known for Gikor (1934), Vsegda gotov (1930) and Kaj Nazar (1940). He died on December 21, 1971 in Yerevan, USSR [now Armenia].

19. Georgi Vasilyev

Director | Chapaev

Georgi Vasilyev was born on November 25, 1899 in Vologda, Russian Empire [now Russia]. He was a director and writer, known for Chapaev (1934), Fortress on the Volga (1942) and Spyashchaya krasavitsa (1930). He died on June 18, 1946 in Ljubljana, Yugoslavia [now Slovenia].

20. Sergey Vasilev

Director | Chapaev

Sergey Vasilev was born on November 4, 1900 in Moscow, Russian Empire [now Russia]. He was a director and writer, known for Chapaev (1934), Fortress on the Volga (1942) and Heroes of Shipka (1955). He died on December 16, 1959 in Moscow, RSFSR, USSR [now Russia].

21. Aleksandr Medvedkin

Director | Novaya Moskva

Aleksandr Medvedkin was born on February 24, 1900 in Penza, Russian Empire [now Russia]. He was a director and writer, known for The New Moscow (1938), Happiness (1935) and Chudesnitsa (1937). He died on February 20, 1989 in Moscow, RSFSR, USSR [now Russia].

22. Vladimir Petrov

Director | Pyotr pervyy I

Vladimir Petrov was born on July 22, 1896 in St. Petersburg, Russian Empire [now Russia]. He was a director and writer, known for Peter the First (1937), Bez viny vinovatye (1945) and Conquest of Peter the Great (1938). He died on January 7, 1966 in Moscow, RSFSR, USSR [now Russia].

23. Mark Donskoy

Director | Detstvo Gorkogo

Mark Donskoy was born on March 6, 1901 in Odessa, Kherson Governorate, Russian Empire [now Ukraine]. He was a director and writer, known for Gorky 1: The Childhood of Maxim Gorky (1938), Foma Gordeev (1959) and The Taras Family (1945). He died on March 21, 1981 in Moscow, RSFSR, USSR [now Russia].

24. Dmitriy Vasilev

Director | Zhukovsky

Dmitriy Vasilev was born on October 21, 1900 in Yeysk, Kuban Oblast, Russian Empire [now Krasnodar Krai, Russia]. He was a director and assistant director, known for Zhukovsky (1950), Operatsiya 'Kobra' (1960) and Admiral Nakhimov (1947). He died on January 5, 1984 in Moscow, RSFSR, USSR [now ...

25. Leonid Trauberg

Writer | Yunost Maksima

Leonid Trauberg was born on January 17, 1902 in Odessa, Kherson Governorate, Russian Empire [now Ukraine]. He was a writer and director, known for Yunost Maksima (1935), The Return of Maxim (1937) and New Horizons (1939). He died on November 14, 1990 in Moscow, Russian SFSR, USSR [now Russia].

26. Roman Karmen

Director | Grenada, Grenada, Grenada moya

Roman Karmen was born on November 29, 1906 in Odessa, Kherson Governorate, Russian Empire [now Ukraine]. He was a director and art director, known for Grenada, Grenada, Grenada moya (1967), Nuremberg Trials (1946) and One Day in Soviet Russia (1941). He died on April 28, 1978 in Moscow, Russian ...

27. Mikhail Slutsky

Director | Boyevoy kinosbornik 5

Mikhail Slutsky was born on July 19, 1907 in Kiev, Kiev Governorate, Russian Empire [now Kyiv, Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine]. He was a director and writer, known for Boyevoy kinosbornik 5 (1941), Kvitucha Ukraina (1950) and V odin prekrasnyy den (1956). He died on June 23, 1959 in Moscow, RSFSR, USSR [now ...

28. Leonid Lukov

Director | Bolshaya zhizn

Leonid Lukov was born on May 2, 1909 in Mariupol, Yekaterinoslav Governorate, Russian Empire [now Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine]. He was a director and writer, known for Bolshaya zhizn (1939), Miners of the Don (1951) and Uz jauno krastu (1955). He died on April 24, 1963 in Leningrad, RSFSR, USSR [now St...

29. Yuli Raizman

Director | Poslednyaya noch

Yuli Raizman was born on December 15, 1903 in Riga, Russian Empire [now Latvia]. He was a director and writer, known for The Last Night (1937), Dream of a Cossack (1951) and The Fall of Berlin (1945). He died on December 11, 1994 in Moscow, Russia.

30. Levon Isahakyan

Director | Yerkir hayreni

Levon Isahakyan was born on April 15, 1908 in Alexandropol, Erivan Governorate, Russian Empire [now Gyumri, Armenia]. He was a director and actor, known for Native Land (1945), Khndutyan yerkir (1940) and Tchanaparh depi krkes (1963). He died on March 3, 2010.

31. Gurgen Balasanyan

Director | Yerkir hayreni

Gurgen Balasanyan is known for Native Land (1945), Khndutyan yerkir (1940) and Andzamb tchanachum em (1958).

32. Aleksandr Ptushko

Director | Kamennyy tsvetok

Aleksandr Ptushko was born on April 19, 1900 in Lugansk, Lugansk uyezd, Yekaterinoslav Governorate, Russian Empire [now Luhansk, Luhansk Oblast, Ukraine]. He was a director and writer, known for The Stone Flower (1946), Sadko (1953) and Ruslan i Lyudmila (1972). He died on March 6, 1973 in Moscow, ...

33. Gerbert Rappaport

Director | Elu tsitadellis

Gerbert Moritsevich Rappaport was born on July 7, 1908, in Vienna, Austria-Hungary (now Austria). His father, Morice Rappaport, was a Doctor psychoanalyst. In 1927-28, young Rappaport studied law at University of Vienna. In 1928 he moved to Berlin and started working at Nero-Film Studio. There he ...

An Austrian director that lived and worked in Soviet Union.

34. Sergey Gerasimov

Director | Lev Tolstoy

Sergei Gerasimov was born in the village of Kundravy in Urals area of the Russian Empire, in 1906. He studied at the Leningrad College of Arts and graduated from the Actors Department of the Leningrad Institute for Stage Arts in 1928. He started his film career in 1924 as an actor, continued as an ...

35. Mikheil Chiaureli

Director | Arsena

Mikhail Edisherovich Chiaureli (Micheil Chiaureli) was born on February 6, 1894, in Tiflis, Russian Empire (now Tbilisi, Georgia). In 1916 he graduated from the School of Painting and Sculpture in Tbilisi. Young Chiaureli made his acting debut on stage as an amateur in 1910. In 1914 he married ...

36. Artashes Hay-Artyan

Director | Karo

Artashes Hay-Artyan is known for Karo (1937), Lalvari vorskane (1967) and Patvi hamar (1956).

37. Mikhail Kalatozov

Director | Letyat zhuravli

Mikhail Kalatozov was born on December 28, 1903 in Tiflis, Russian Empire [now Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia]. He was a director and cinematographer, known for The Cranes Are Flying (1957), True Friends (1954) and Zagovor obrechyonnykh (1950). He died on March 27, 1973 in Moscow, RSFSR, USSR [now ...

38. Yuliya Solntseva

Director | Povest plamennykh let

Yuliya Solntseva was born on August 7, 1901 in Moscow, Russian Empire [now Russia]. She was a director and actress, known for Chronicle of Flaming Years (1961), Aelita, the Queen of Mars (1924) and Poem of the Sea (1958). She was married to Aleksandr Dovzhenko. She died on October 29, 1989 in ...

39. Yuriy Erzinkyan

Director | Sneg v traure

Yuriy Erzinkyan was born on January 26, 1922 in Tiflis, Georgian SSR [now Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia]. Yuriy was a director and writer, known for Sneg v traure (1978), Khatabala (1971) and O moyom druge (1959). Yuriy died on December 19, 1996.

40. Laert Vagharshyan

Director | Kochvatz en aprelu

Laert Vagharshyan was born on June 6, 1922 in Krasnodar, RSFSR [now Russia]. Laert was a director and writer, known for Kochvatz en aprelu (1961), Martiros Saryan (1965) and Arajin siro yerge (1958). Laert died on January 30, 2000 in Yerevan, Armenia.

41. Grigoriy Chukhray

Director | Ballada o soldate

Studied at the Moscow Cinema Institute under Soviet film master Mikhail Romm. He found fame after his 1959 film "Ballad of a Soldier" which is considered one of the best Soviet war films and which has played all over the world.

42. Aleksey Batalov

Actor | Dama s sobachkoy

Aleksei Vladimirovich Batalov was born on November 20, 1928, into the family of famous Russian theatrical actor Vladimir Batalov. He was born in the city of Vladimir, near Moscow, where his grandmother was the Doctor General at the Vladimir city hospital. His parents, Vladimir Petrovich Batalov and...

43. Iosif Kheifits

Director | Deputat Baltiki

Iosif Kheifits was born on December 4, 1905 in Minsk, Russian Empire [now Belarus]. He was a director and writer, known for Baltic Deputy (1937), The Lady with the Dog (1960) and The Rumyantsev Case (1956). He was married to Yanina Zheymo. He died on April 24, 1995 in St. Petersburg, Russia.

44. Anatole Litvak

Director | The Snake Pit

The distinguished film director Anatole Litvak was born in the Ukrainian city of Kiev, the son of Jewish parents. His very first job was as a stage hand. In 1915, he became an actor, performing at a little-known experimental theater in St. Petersburg, Russia. As a teenager, he witnessed the 1917 ...

45. Mikhail Romm

Director | Russkiy vopros

Mikhail Romm was born in 1901, into a Russian-Jewish family, in the Siberian city of Irkutsk, Russia. He served in the Red Army in 1918-21 as an Inspector of the Special Forces for Food Supplies. He was in charge of confiscations of bread and food from the wealthier farmers (kulaks) in Central ...

46. Grigoriy Kozintsev

Director | Gamlet

Grigori Mikhailovich Kozintsev was born on March 22, 1905, in Kiev, Russian Empire (now Kiev, Ukraine). His father, named Mikhail Kozintsev, was a medical doctor. Young Kozintsev studied at the Kiev Gymnazium. There, in 1919, he organized experimental theatre "Arlekin" together with his fellow ...

47. Rezo Chkheidze

Director | Jariskatsis mama

Rezo Chkheidze was born on December 8, 1926 in Kutaisi, Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic, USSR [now Imereti, Georgia]. He was a director and writer, known for Father of a Soldier (1964), Nergebi (1972) and Magdana's Donkey (1955). He died on May 3, 2015 in Tbilisi, Georgia.

48. Sergey Bondarchuk

Actor | Voyna i mir

Sergei Bondarchuk was one of the most important Russian filmmakers, best known for directing an Academy Award-winning film epic War and Peace (1965), based on the book by Lev Tolstoy, in which he also starred as Pierre Bezukhov.

He was born Sergei Fedorovich Bondarchuk on September, 25, 1920, in the ...

49. Marlen Khutsiev

Director | Beskonechnost

Marlen Khutsiev is a Soviet and Russian film director, screenwriter, actor, teacher. People's Artist of the USSR (1986), laureate of the State Prize of the Russian Federation (1993). Honorary Member of the Russian Academy of Arts.

Khutsiev studied at the 43rd Tbilisi Secondary School. In 1952 he ...

50. Andrei Tarkovsky

Writer | Offret

The most famous Soviet film-maker since Sergei Eisenstein, Andrei Tarkovsky (the son of noted poet Arseniy Tarkovsky) studied music and Arabic in Moscow before enrolling in the Soviet film school VGIK. He shot to international attention with his first feature, Ivan's Childhood (1962), which won the...

51. Sergei Yutkevich

Director | Otello

He has made been famous in the young soviet cinema by his films about Lenin (Lenin in Poland (1966) and others). He had a great international acclaim by his version of Othello (1956) and engaged to the Soviet cinema two French stars: Marina Vlady for Lika in Syuzhet dlya nebolshogo rasskaza (1969) ...

52. Aleksandr Zarkhi

Director | Deputat Baltiki

Aleksandr Zarkhi was born on February 18, 1908 in St. Petersburg, Russian Empire [now Russia]. He was a director and writer, known for Baltic Deputy (1937), Razgrom militaristkoy Japonii (1945) and Twenty Six Days from the Life of Dostoyevsky (1981). He died on January 27, 1997 in Moscow, Russia.

53. Arunas Zebriunas

Director | Paskutine atostogu diena

Arunas Zebriunas was born on August 8, 1931 in Kaunas, Lithuania. He was a director and writer, known for The Girl and the Echo (1964), Devil's Bride (1974) and Chas polnoluniya (1988). He was married to Giedre Kaukaite. He died on September 9, 2013 in Vilnius, Lithuania.

54. Henrik Malyan

Director | Ktor me yerkinq

He graduated from the Directing Department of Yerevan Institute of Fine Arts and Theatre in 1951, then finished Special Director Courses at Moscow Theatre Institute. He worked as director at different Armenian theatres from 1951 to 1954. After 1954 he was one of the leading directors at Armenfilm ...

55. Otar Iosseliani

Director | La chasse aux papillons

Otar Iosseliani was born on February 2, 1934 in Tiflis, Transcaucasian SFSR, USSR [now Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia]. He was a director and writer, known for La chasse aux papillons (1992), Winter Song (2015) and Et la lumière fut (1989). He died on December 17, 2023 in Tbilisi, Georgia.

56. Gleb Panfilov

Director | Tema

Gleb Panfilov was born on May 21, 1934 in Magnitogorsk, Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russian SFSR, USSR [now Russia]. He was a director and writer, known for The Theme (1979), Vassa (1983) and Mat (1990). He was married to Inna Churikova. He died on August 26, 2023 in Russia.

57. Aleksandr Mitta

Director | Raskalyonnaya subbota

Russian film director and screenwriter Alexander Mitta was born 28 March 1933 in Moscow. Alexander Mitta's career as film director and screenwriter spans from the 1960s until the 2010s.

He studied engineering in 1955, then worked as a cartoonist in art and magazines. In 1960 Mitta graduated at the ...

58. Vasiliy Shukshin

Writer | Kalina krasnaya

Vasili Shukshin, one of Russian cinema's notable figures, was born Vasili Makarovich Shukshin into a peasant family on July 25, 1929, in the village of Srostki, Altai province, Siberian Russia. His father, named Makar Leontievich Shukshin, was a landlord who refused to join a collective farm and ...

59. Mark Soosaar

Cinematographer | Isa, poeg ja püha Toorum

Mark Soosaar was born on January 12, 1946 in Viljandi, Estonian SSR, Soviet Union [now Estonia]. He is a cinematographer and director, known for Isa, poeg ja püha Toorum (1998), Jõulud Vigalas (1981) and Sadam udus (1987).

60. Larisa Shepitko

Director | Voskhozhdenie

Larisa Shepitko was born on January 6, 1938 in Bakhmut, Ukrainian SSR, USSR [now Bakhmut, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine]. She was a director and writer, known for The Ascent (1977), Heat (1963) and You and Me (1971). She was married to Elem Klimov. She died on July 2, 1979 in near Redkino, Kalinin Oblast...

61. Peeter Tooming

Cinematographer | Aastad

Peeter Tooming was born on June 1, 1939 in Rakvere, Estonia. Peeter was a cinematographer and director, known for Aastad (1977), Allika poole mineja (1979) and Kassilaane (1983). Peeter died on May 17, 1997 in Tallinn, Estonia.

62. Andrey Konchalovskiy

Writer | Belye nochi pochtalyona Alekseya Tryapitsyna

The Russian theatre and film director Andrei Konchalovsky is an elder brother of Nikita Mikhalkov, born August, 20, 1937. As a youngster he planned to pursue a career of a musician and learned to play piano but his love for cinema outweighed and he entered VGIK-the major state film school where he ...

63. Yuri Norstein

Animation_department | Skazka skazok

Born to Jewish parents and raised in a Moscow suburb, Yuri Norstein painted as a hobby and trained as a carpenter before studying animation. He directed his first film in 1968 and made a series of short films notable for their attention to atmosphere and fine detail, using a multiplane camera to ...

64. Peeter Simm

Director | Head käed

Peeter Simm was born on February 24, 1953 in Kiviõli, Estonian SSR, USSR [now Estonia]. He is a director and writer, known for Head käed (2001), Kõrini! (2005) and Odinokiy ostrov (2012).

65. Kaljo Kiisk

Director | Maaletulek

Kaljo Kiisk was born on December 3, 1925 in Voka, Ida-Virumaa, Estonia. He was an actor and director, known for Maaletulek (1973), Hullumeelsus (1969) and Vallatud kurvid (1959). He was married to Sinaida Kiisk. He died on September 20, 2007 in Tallinn, Estonia.

66. Artavazd Peleshian

Director | La nature

Creator of the "distance montage," Artavazd Peleshian, one of the key Soviet documentary makers, removed the boundaries of feature and documentary films, editing both sequences as a real poetical unity. His "distance montage" was a new step in the development of film editing.

Even his student works ...

67. Tengiz Abuladze

Director | Monanieba

'Tengiz Abuladze' studied theatrical direction af the Chota Rustaveli Theatre Institute in Tbilisi, Georgia, and film- making at the VGIK Cinematography Institute, graduating in 1953, when he joined Georgia Film Studios as a director. He made documentaries before making his feature debut in 1958. ...

68. Sergei Parajanov

Director | Tini zabutykh predkiv

One of the 20th century's greatest masters of cinema Sergei Parajanov was born in Georgia to Armenian parents and it was always unlikely that his work would conform to the strict socialist realism that Soviet authorities preferred. After studying film and music, Parajanov became an assistant ...

69. Elem Klimov

Director | Idi i smotri

Elem Klimov was born on July 9, 1933 in Stalingrad, Nizhne-Volzhskiy kray, RSFSR, USSR [now Volgograd, Volgogradskaya oblast, Russia]. He was a director and actor, known for Come and See (1985), Rasputin (1981) and Pokhozhdeniya zubnogo vracha (1965). He was married to Larisa Shepitko. He died on ...

70. Aleksey German

Writer | Khrustalyov, mashinu!

Aleksey German was born on July 20, 1938 in Leningrad, Russian SFSR, USSR [now St. Petersburg, Russia]. He was an actor and writer, known for Khrustalyov, My Car! (1998), Hard to Be a God (2013) and Moy drug Ivan Lapshin (1985). He was married to Svetlana Karmalita. He died on February 21, 2013 in ...

71. Dodo Abashidze

Director | Ashug-Karibi

Dodo Abashidze was born on May 1, 1924 in Tiflis, Transcaucasian SFSR, USSR [now Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia]. He was an actor and director, known for Ashik Kerib (1988), The Legend of Suram Fortress (1985) and The First Swallow (1975). He died on January 26, 1990.

72. Leida Laius

Director | Naerata ometi

Leida Laius was born on March 26, 1923 in Horoshevo, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union [now Russia]. She was a director and writer, known for Naerata ometi (1985), Libahunt (1968) and Kõrboja peremees (1979). She died on April 6, 1996 in Tallinn, Estonia.

73. Konstantin Lopushanskiy

Director | Gadkie lebedi

Konstantin Lopushanskiy was born on June 12, 1947 in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukrainian SSR, USSR [now Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine]. He is a director and writer, known for The Ugly Swans (2006), Visitor of a Museum (1989) and Dead Man's Letters (1986).

74. Juris Podnieks

Director | Vai viegli but jaunam?

Juris Podnieks was born on December 5, 1950 in Riga, USSR [now Latvia]. He was a director and cinematographer, known for Is It Easy to Be Young? (1986), Constellation of Rifleman (1982) and Krustcels (1990). He died on June 23, 1992.

75. Vasili Pichul

Director | Malenkaya Vera

Vasili Pichul was born on June 15, 1961 in Zhdanov, Stalino Oblast, Ukrainian SSR, USSR [now Mariupol, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine]. He was a director and writer, known for Little Vera (1988), Kinofestival, ili Portveyn Eyzenshteyna (2006) and Nebo v almazakh (1999). He was married to Mariya Khmelik. ...

76. Kira Muratova

Director | Nastroyshchik

Kira Muratova was born on November 5, 1934 in Soroca, Romania [now Moldova]. She was a director and writer, known for Nastroyshchik (2004), Vtorostepennye lyudi (2001) and The Asthenic Syndrome (1989). She was married to Aleksandr Muratov and Yevgeni Golubenko. She died on June 6, 2018 in Odessa, ...

77. Vitali Kanevsky

Director | Zamri, umri, voskresni!

Vitali Kanevsky was born on September 4, 1935 in Gamarnik, Far East Krai, RSFSR, USSR [now Partizansk, Primorsky Krai, Russia]. He is a director and writer, known for Freeze Die Come to Life (1990), An Independent Life (1992) and KTO Bolche (2000).

78. Pavel Lungin

Director | Ostrov

Pavel Semyonovich Lungin (born July 12, 1949) is a Russian film director. He is sometimes credited as Pavel Loungine (as in the American release of Tycoon).

Born 12 July 1949 in Moscow, Lungin is the son of a scriptwriter and linguist. He later attended Moscow State University from which he ...

79. Sergey Solovyov

Writer | Sto dney posle detstva

Sergey Solovyov was born on August 25, 1944 in Kem, Karelo-Finnish SSR, USSR [now Republic of Karelia, Russia]. He was a writer and director, known for One Hundred Days After Childhood (1975), Spasatel (1980) and Chuzhaya belaya i ryaboy (1986). He was married to Tatyana Drubich, Marianna Kushnerova...

80. Karen Shakhnazarov

Producer | Palata N°6

Karen Shakhnazarov was born on July 8, 1952 in Krasnodar, Krasnodarskiy kray, RSFSR, USSR [now Russia]. He is a producer and director, known for Ward No. 6 (2009), Zerograd (1988) and White Tiger (2012).

81. Bakhtyar Khudojnazarov

Director | Luna Papa

Born in Tajikistan during the Soviet Union period, Bakhtyar Khudojnazarov worked for Tadjikfilm Studios, TV and radio, as a journalist or assistant director, from 1982 to 1984. He then studied at the Moscow Film Institute (VGIK), in Igor Talankin's class, where he directed two short films ("...

82. Aleksandr Rogozhkin

Director | Blokpost

Aleksandr Rogozhkin was born on October 3, 1949 in Leningrad, RSFSR, USSR [now St. Petersburg, Russia]. He was a director and writer, known for Blokpost (1999), The Cuckoo (2002) and Peculiarities of the National Hunt (1995). He was married to Yuliya Rumyantseva. He died on October 23, 2021 in St. ...

83. Nikita Mikhalkov

Actor | 12

Nikita Mikhalkov is the son of the famous communist poet Sergey Mikhalkov, who wrote the lyrics of the Soviet national anthem and had strong connections to the Communist Party. Nikita Mikhalkov's mother, Natalya Petrovna Konchalovskaya, was also a poet and daughter of famous painter Pyotr Petrovich...

84. Artour Aristakisian

Director | Ladoni

Artour Aristakisian was born on October 11, 1961 in Kishinyov, Moldavian SSR, USSR [now Chisinau, Republic of Moldova]. He is a director and writer, known for Ladoni (1994), Mesto na zemle (2001) and Karot (1990).

85. Ruben Gevorkyants

Director | Kghziner

Ruben Gevorkyants was born on November 30, 1945 in Yerevan, Armenian SSR, USSR [now Armenia]. He was a director and writer, known for Kghziner (1987), Requiem (1989) and Autumn of the Magician (2009). He died on June 23, 2017 in Yerevan, Armenia.

86. Aleksandr Sokurov

Director | Russkiy kovcheg

He was born with a disability because of an anatomic defect of his leg, in 1951 in Podorvikha village in Siberian Russia. His father was a Red Army veteran of WW2. One of most important contemporary filmmakers, Sokurov worked extensively in television and later graduated from the prestigious film ...

87. Timur Bekmambetov

Director | Nochnoy dozor

Timur Bekmambetov is a Kazakh-Russian film director known for vampire franchise Night Watch (2004) and Day Watch (2006).

He was born Timur Nuruakhitovich Bekmambetov on June 25, 1961, in Guryev, Soviet Union (now Atyrau, Kazakhstan). His father, Nuruakhit Bekmambetov, is a manager at Guryev Energy ...

88. Marina Razbezhkina

Director | Vremya zhatvy

Marina Razbezhkina was born on July 17, 1948 in Kazan, Tatar ASSR, RSFSR, USSR [now Republic of Tatarstan, Russia]. She is a producer and director, known for Vremya zhatvy (2004), Kanikuly (2006) and The Hollow (2007).

89. Aleksey Balabanov

Director | Brat

Aleksey Balabanov was born on February 25, 1959 in Sverdlovsk, Sverdlovskaya oblast, RSFSR, USSR [now Ekaterinburg, Russia]. He was a director and writer, known for Brother (1997), Cargo 200 (2007) and Of Freaks and Men (1998). He was married to Irina ? and Nadezhda Vasileva. He died on May 18, ...

90. Alexei Popogrebsky

Director | Kak ya provyol etim letom

Alexei Popogrebsky was born on August 7, 1972 in Moscow, RSFSR, USSR [now Russia]. He is a director and writer, known for How I Ended This Summer (2010), Koktebel (2003) and Prostye veshchi (2007).

91. Aleksey Fedorchenko

Director | Angely revolyutsii

Aleksey Fedorchenko was born on September 29, 1966 in Sol-Iletsk, Sol-Iletskiy rayon, Orenburgskaya oblast, RSFSR, USSR [now Russia]. He is a director and producer, known for Angels of Revolution (2014), The Last Darling Bulgaria (2021) and First on the Moon (2005).

92. Victor Kossakovsky

Director | Sreda

Documentary film director. Born on July 19, 1961 in Leningrad. Since 1978 he worked at the Leningrad studio of Documentaries as assistant cameraman, assistant director and editor. In 1988 he finished the Higher Courses of Film Writers and Directors in Moscow. Laureate of the "Triumph" Prize, ...

93. Yuriy Bykov

Director | Durak

Yuriy Bykov was born on August 15, 1981 in Novomichurinsk, Soviet Union is a Russian filmmaker, screenwriter and actor. He is best known for directing the social films The Major (2013), The Fool (2014) and the crime TV series The Method (2015).

In 2009, he directed a short film Nachalnik (2009), in ...

94. Ilya Naishuller

Director | Hardcore Henry

Ilya Naishuller is a film director, actor, producer, screenwriter and the frontman of indie rock band Biting Elbows, founded in 2008. From 8 to 14 he studied in London, and later graduated from the British International School in Yasenevo. Naishuller dropped out of the Institute of Television and ...

95. Aleksey German Jr.

Director | Bumazhnyy soldat

Aleksey German Jr. was born on September 4, 1976 in Moscow, Russian SFSR, USSR [now Russia]. He is a director and writer, known for Paper Soldier (2008), Posledniy poezd (2003) and Under Electric Clouds (2015). He is married to Elena Okopnaya.

96. Vitaliy Manskiy

Director | Truba

Vitaliy Manskiy was born on December 2, 1963 in Lvov, Lvovskaya oblast, Ukrainskaya SSR, USSR [now Lviv, Lvivska oblast, Ukraine]. He is a director and writer, known for Pipeline (2013), Under the Sun (2015) and Motherland or Death (2011).

97. Kirill Serebrennikov

Director | Leto

Kirill Serebrennikov was born on September 7, 1969 in Rostov-na-Donu, Rostovskaya oblast, RSFSR, USSR [now Russia]. He is a director and writer, known for Leto (2018), The Student (2016) and Petrov's Flu (2021).

98. Andrey Zvyagintsev

Director | Nelyubov

Director and screenwriter Andrey Zvyagintsev is the winner of the Venice Film Festival (2003) and the Cannes Film Festival (2011, 2014, 2017). Two-time the Academy Awards and the BAFTA Awards nominee. Winner or the Golden Globe Awards (2015) for his film "Leviathan". In 2018, his latest work "...

99. Kantemir Balagov

Writer | Dylda

Born in 1991 in Nalchik, capital of the Autonomous Republic of Kabardino-Balkaria, in the North Caucasus, Kantemir Balagov leaves the city for Stavropol where he undertakes studies in economics. But the twenty-three-year-old man's interest is elsewhere and, while being passionate about photography,...

100. Natasha Merkulova

Director | Intimnye mesta

Natasha Merkulova Director, scriptwriter Natasha Merkulova was born September 19, 1979 in the town of Buzuluk in the Orenburg Region, USSR. In 2001 - graduated from Irkutsk State University with a degree in journalism and stared career at television. In 2003 - together with director Andrey ...