Vadim Yusupovich Abdrashitov (Russian: Вадим Юсупович Абдрашитов, Tatar: Вадим Йосыф улы Габдерәшитов) is one of Russian cinema's most notable independent directors. He is internationally renowned, with awards from the Berlin and Venice Film Festivals, and is a People's Artist of Russia.
Vadim Yusupovich Abdrashitov | |
---|---|
![]() Vadim Abdrashitov, 2012 | |
Born | (1945-01-19) 19 January 1945 (age 77) Kharkov, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union |
Occupation | Film director |
Abdrashitov was born in Ukraine to Tatar father and Russian mother. He moved all over the Soviet Union with his father's military assignments.
He was so impressed with the space flight of the first Russian cosmonaut that he left his parents and moved to Moscow to study nuclear physics at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology.[citation needed] Around that time, he developed an interest in amateur filmmaking, and he transferred to the D. Mendeleev University of Chemical Technology because it was equipped with a film studio for students. His cultural and artistic interests developed during the "Thaw".[1]
After graduation as an engineer, he worked as a manager at the Moscow Electric-Vacuum Industry, which was making colour TV tubes.[1]
From 1970 to 1974 Abdrashitov studied film directing at the Moscow Institute of Cinematography (Gerasimov Institute).[2][better source needed]
Abdrashitov's directorial debut was Ostanovite Potapova! (Stop Potapov!, 1974), a satirical comedy based on the screenplay by Grigori Gorin. In 1975 Abdrashitov met with the unknown writer Aleksandr Mindadze, which began a collaboration that lasted for the next 12 films over 30 years.[2]
His 1997 film Time of a Dancer was shown in the Stalker Human Rights Film Festival's regional presentation in Rostov-on-Don in 2010, where he engaged in discussion with the audience.[3]
Abdrashitov's films are often characterised by protagonists delving into self-exploration. His films have uncomfortable, challenging and intellectual themes; however, the director avoids depiction of graphic violence in all his films. Instead, misery is alluded to in more creative and at times surrealist ways.[4]
In 1990 he was a member of the jury at the 40th Berlin International Film Festival.[5]
In 2016 he became a member of the Board of Trustees for the Fazil Iskander International Literary Award.[6]
He has been president of the Russian Guild of Film Directors and the Stalker Human Rights Film Festival for some time.[7][8]
His wife is artist Natella Toidze, a member of the Russian Academy of Arts.[13]
General | |
---|---|
National libraries | |
Other |