Andrei Konchalovsky
1937 (87 лет)He studied for ten years at the Moscow Conservatory, preparing for a pianist's career. In 1960, however, he met Andrei Tarkovsky and co-scripted his movie Andrei Rublev (1966). His first full-length feature, The First Teacher (1964), was favourably received in the Soviet Union and screened by numerous film festivals abroad. His second film, Asya Klyachina's Story (1967), was suppressed by Soviet authorities. When issued twenty years later, it was acclaimed as his masterpiece. Thereupon, Konchalovsky filmed adaptations of Ivan Turgenev's A Nest of Gentle Folk (1969) and Chekhov's Uncle Vanya (1970), with Innokenty Smoktunovsky in the title role. His epic Siberiade upon its 1979 release was favourably received at Cannes and made possible his move to the United States in 1980.
His most popular Hollywood releases are Maria's Lovers (1984), Runaway Train (1985), based on a script by Japanese director Akira Kurosawa, and Tango & Cash (1989), starring Sylvester Stallone and Kurt Russell. In the 1990s, Konchalovsky returned to Russia, although he occasionally produced historical films for U.S. television, such as his adaption of The Odyssey (1997) and the award-winning remake, The Lion in Winter (2003).
Konchalovsky's full-length feature, House of Fools (2003), with a cameo role by Bryan Adams as himself, set in a Chechen psychiatric asylum during the war, won him a Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival. In 2010, Konchalovsky released a longtime passion project of his, The Nutcracker in 3D, a musical adaptation of Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky's ballet. A musical film, it mixed live action and 3D animation, and starred Elle Fanning, John Turturro, Nathan Lane, and Richard E. Grant. The film was scored with music from the ballet, with additional lyrics by Tim Rice. In 2012, Konchalovsky wrote, directed and produced "The Battle for Ukraine", which provided an in depth analysis of how Ukraine to this day struggles to escape from the close embrace of its former big brother. His film "The Postman's White Nights" won the Silver Lion at the 71st Venice International Film Festival. The script is centred around the true story of Aleksey Tryaptisyn, a real life postman based in a remote Russian village surrounding the Kenozero lake. In 2016 "Paradise" directed by him won the Silver Lion at the 73rd Venice International Film Festival. It was selected as the Russian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 89th Academy Awards. In 2020 at the 77th Venice film festival, his film "Dear Comrades" won a special jury prize.
Il terremoto di Vanja
Vinicio Marchioni
Andrei Konchalovsky, Toni Servillo
Through the rehearsals and the tour of the show based on Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov, Vinicio Marchioni takes us to the Italian province destroyed by the earthquake and the places of the Russian writer. The Vanja earthquake starts from the Chekhovian masterpiece to investigate Italian post-earthquake immobility through the tragicomic gaze of Chekhov, making the public aware of the extraordinary human strength of the writer. A journey into the Italian theatrical creation; a journey in the earthquake that destroyed central Italy; a journey into the words and soul of Anton Chekhov.
The Vanja Earthquake
Siberiade
Andrei Konchalovsky
Nikita Mikhalkov, Vitali Solomin
The story about a very small god-forgotten village in Siberia reflects the history of Russia from the beginning of the century till the early 1980s. Three generations try to find the land of happiness and to give it to the people. One builds the road through taiga to the star over horizon, the second 'build communism' and the third searches for oil.
Siberiade
Tarkovsky: Time Within Time
P.J. Letofsky
Andrei Tarkovsky, Andrei Konchalovsky
Andrei Tarkovsky (1932-1986) is widely regarded as one of the worlds' top directors- throughout history. TWT explores Tarkovsky through his diary and his articulate assessments on love, art, and the struggles working within the Soviet political system. Of his 7 ambitious films, 5 were made under the heavy hand of censors in the Soviet Union. In 1984 he defected to Italy with help from screenwriter Tonino Guerra, and Director Michelangelo Antonioni. He directed 2 films in the West until his untimely death in Paris at age 54. Narrated by Oleg Vidov, combined with a collection of rare film excerpts and photos, and interviews from people who knew him best, we take you on a passionate journey into the life, love, and work of Andrei Tarkovsky.
Tarkovsky: Time Within Time
Foreign Filmmakers in Hollywood
Elías Nahmías
Bille August, Andrei Konchalovsky
Filmed around the time of the 1989 Oscars this documentary includes interviews with foreign filmmakers from a variety of disciplines about their experiences working and living in Hollywood.
Foreign Filmmakers in Hollywood
I Am Twenty
Marlen Khutsiyev
Valentin Popov, Nikolai Gubenko
Having returned from the army, 20-year-old Sergei settles down at the thermal power station and merges into ordinary life. Every day he meets and spends time with childhood friends — the young family man Slava and the merry fellow Nikolai, and once at first sight he falls in love with a stranger on the bus. A lyrical story about a generation of young people entering adulthood, a reappraisal of values, life principles, traditions in culture and art.
I Am Twenty
The First Teacher
Andrei Konchalovsky
Bolot Beyshenaliev, Natalya Arinbasarova
Dyuishen is assigned to the mountainous Kirghiz region of Central Asia by the Young Communist League after he is discharged from the Red Army. It is 1923 and the Civil war has ended. The former soldier becomes a teacher, bringing the Leninist doctrine to the remote Moslem area where elders did not allow children to go to school. He falls in love with one of his students, but the young woman is sold by her father to a wealthy chieftain. When the school is burned down, the majestic poplar trees that are a source of local pride are cut down to rebuild the new structure.
The First Teacher
A Film About Mikhail Kalatozov
Mikheil Kalatozishvili
Sergey Solovyov, Claude Lelouch
The career of revered Russian filmmaker Mikhail Kalatozov is explored in this documentary film comprised of rare behind-the-scenes footage, interviews with French director Claude Lelouch, and conversations with some of the biggest names in contemporary Russian cinema. Kalatozov's grandson Mikhail Kalatozishvili pays tribute to the director of such timeless classics as I Am Cuba, Salt for Svanetia, and The Cranes are Flying as such notable fans as Andrei Konchalovsky, Sergei Solovyov, and Alexei Batalov discuss the remarkable influence Kalatozov had on their own film careers.
A Film About Mikhail Kalatozov
Dear Comrades!
Andrei Konchalovsky
Yuliya Vysotskaya, Vladislav Komarov
When the communist government raises food prices in 1962, the rebellious workers from the small industrial town of Novocherkassk go on strike. The massacre which then ensues is seen through the eyes of a devout party activist.
Dear Comrades!
Schneeweißrosenrot
Christa Ritter, Rainer Langhans
Jutta Winkelmann, Gisela Getty
Documentary about the twin sister Jutta and Gisela Schmidt. In the late sixties the two women rebelled against middle class society as if they gave vent to a new kind of art. They became active in the underground communist party KPD and showed a heart-felt interest in the colour red, the aesthetics of the revolution. Soon, though, the twins quit their experiments in Germany. They left their husbands and went to Rome, where they met the fabulously wealthy Paul Getty III, and soon things got really out of hand.
SnowwhiteRosered
Мальчик и голубь
Andrei Konchalovsky, Evgeny Ostashenko
Nikolay Burlyaev, Vladimir Shurupov
The boy wants to have a pigeon, but he can't afford to buy a bird. On the market for a pigeon asking for 100 rubles! Then he decides to buy a bird, bartering it for his father's album with stamps. Having caught a pigeon, the boy releases a bird into the sky. But the pigeon is returning to it's native dovecote, to it's former owner, who again demands money for it. This is a short movie about childhood and dreams, about the first life lessons that everyone has to face in childhood, when society and its laws bring changes into life, sometimes breaking the brightest dreams.
The Boy and the Pigeon
Uncle Vanya
Andrei Konchalovsky
Innokentiy Smoktunovskiy, Sergey Bondarchuk
Serebryakov, a retired professor and his beautiful, much younger second wife, Yeléna, visit their country estate, which funds their urban lifestyle. Vanya, brother of the Professor's first wife, who manages the farm estate, and the local Doctor Astrov, both fall under Yelena's spell, while complaining of the endless ennui of their provincial existence. Astrov is an experienced physician who performs his job conscientiously, but has lost all idealism and spends much of his time drinking. Sofya, the Professor's daughter by his first wife, who works to keep the estate going with her uncle Vanya, meanwhile suffers from lack of esteem over what she sees as her own lack of beauty, and from an unrequited love for Dr. Astrov. Matters are brought to a head when the Professor announces his intention to sell the estate, Vanya and Sofya's home, to achieve a higher income for himself and his wife.
Uncle Vanya
Runaway Train
Andrei Konchalovsky
Jon Voight, Eric Roberts
A hardened convict and a younger prisoner escape from a brutal prison in the middle of winter only to find themselves on an out-of-control train with a female railway worker while being pursued by the vengeful head of security.
Runaway Train
Split Cherry Tree
Andrei Konchalovsky
Colleen Dewhurst, William Newman
Split Cherry Tree is a 1982 short film directed by Andrei Konchalovsky. A father learns the importance of education and gains an understanding of his son and an insight into his dreams and ambitions. The film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film.
Split Cherry Tree
