Andrei Konchalovsky

Andrei Sergeyevich Mikhalkov-Konchalovsky (born August 20, 1937) is a Russian film director, film producer and screenwriter. He was a frequent collaborator of Andrei Tarkovsky earlier in his career.

He is the son of Natalia Konchalovskaya and Sergey Mikhalkov, and brother to Nikita Mikhalkov who is also a well known Russian film director.

Konchalovsky was born on August 20, 1937, as Andron Sergeyevich Mikhalkov in Moscow, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, to an aristocratic family of Mikhalkovs, with centuries-old artistic and aristocratic heritage tracing their roots to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. He changed his first name to Andrei and took his maternal grandfather's surname (Konchalovsky) as his stage name. He is the brother of filmmaker Nikita Mikhalkov and the son of author Sergei Mikhalkov.

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.

In 1979 he was a member of the jury at the 11th Moscow International Film Festival. 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 the same year, Konchalovsky also featured in Hitler in Hollywood, a bio-doc about Micheline Presle which evolves into a thrilling investigation of the long hidden truth behind European cinema. This mockumentary thriller uncovers Hollywood's unsuspected plot against the European motion picture industry. The film won the FIPRESCI Prize at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and was nominated for a Crystal Globe award in July, 2010.

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, Russia. This extensive study lasted for almost three years and involved an array of Ukrainian, Russian and American historians, politicians and journalists, as well as the ex-President of Poland Aleksander Kwasniewski, the ex-President of Slovakia Rudolf Schuster, the ex-President of Georgia Eduard Shevardnadze, the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations Kofi Annan, the ex-Prime Minister of Russia Viktor Chernomyrdin, and the businessman Boris Berezovsky.

2013, saw Konchalovsky co-produce a story previously untold on film. Film-maker Margy Kinmonth invited the Prince of Wales to make a journey through history to celebrate the artistic gene in his family and reveal an extraordinary treasure trove of work by royal hands past and present, many of whom were accomplished artists. Set against the spectacular landscapes of the Royal Estates and containing insights into works by members of The Royal Family down the centuries and The Prince of Wales's own watercolours, 'Royal Paintbox' explores a colourful palette of intimate family memory and observation.

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.

Konchalovsky has been married five times. His first wife was Irina Kandat. His second wife was Kazakh actress Natalia Arinbasarova, with whom he has one son: Egor, born January 15, 1966. His third wife was Viviane Godet, with whom he has a daughter, Alexandra Mikhalkova, born October 6, 1971. His fourth wife was Irina Ivanova, with whom he has two daughters: Nathalia and Elena. His fifth wife is Russian actress Julia Vysotskaya; they have been married since 1998 and have two children: Maria (1999) and Petr (2003).

2018 Career Award at the Sardinia Film Festival (XIII ed. - Sassari)

2018 Cavalier of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (Italy)

2018 Russian Ludvic Nobel award (Russia)

2017 Award of the Government of the Russian Federation in Culture for his theater work (Russia)

2017 The Bridge Award by the Bernhard Wicki Foundation (Germany)

2017 The title of Professor of Moscow State University (Russia)

2017 ‘Person of the Year’ award by Federation Of Jewish Communities in Russia (Russia)

2017 The Federico Fellini Prize ‘For a special contribution to the development of the cinema’ (Italy)

2017 The European Medal of Tolerance (ECTR), ‘For his cultural achievements focused on preserving the tragic memory of the past including his film ‘Paradise’ (Brussels)

2016 ‘Baltic Star International Award’ for Developing and Consolidating Humanitarian Relations in Countries of the Baltic Region (Russia)

2016 Rivista del Cinematografo Award, Vatican (Italy)

2016 The Robert Bresson Prize, Vatican (Italy)

2015 The Moscow Times Awards 'Person of the Year’ (Russia)

2012 Award 'For Contribution to Enlightenment’, Kazan International Festival of Muslim Films (Russia)

2012 International Award of Chingiz Aitmatov, 'For Studio adaptation of a novel' for the movie 'The First Teacher', 1965,

2011 National Order of the Legion of Honour (Ordre national de la Légion d’honneur) (France)

2011 The title of Honorary Doctor of the University (National University of Theatre Arts and Cinema (UNATC)

2011 Honorary award 'Doctor Honorius Causa' for the contribution to cinema (Romania)

2011 Award 'For the contribution to cinema’, International Film Festival of Andrei Tarkovsky ‘Zerkalo' (Russia)

2010 Honorary Award to outstanding citizen of the city of Tuscany (Italy)

2010 Commemorative Medal '150th anniversary of Anton Chekhov', award 'For the contribution to the theatrical art’ (Russia)

2008 'Gold Star' special award for the contribution to development of the world cinema (Marrakech International Film Festival, Morocco)

2006 Russian Film Directors Guild Award for citizenship, integrity and contribution to cinema (Russia)

2005 Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters (France)

2003 Order 'Danaker' (Republic of Kyrgyzstan)

2002 The title of 'Honorary Professor of Cinematography' for outstanding contribution to the art, culture and cinema, VGIK (Russia)

2002 Academician of the National Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Russia)

1997 Special Silver St. George for his contribution to world cinema, 20th Moscow International Film Festival (Russia), 1997

1997 Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" (Russia)

1997 Medal 'In Commemoration of the 850th Anniversary of Moscow’ (Russia)

1980 People's Artist of the RSFSR (USSR)

1974 Merited Artist of the USSR (USSR)

1972 State Prize of the Kazakh SSR (USSR)

Film

Feature films

Year	Title	Functioned as			Country of Origin	Notes
Director	Writer	Producer
1962	Ivan's Childhood	No	Yes	No	Soviet Union
1965	The First Teacher	Yes	Yes	No		Thesis film Jussi Award for Best Foreign Director Nominated- Golden Lion (Venice Film Festival)
1966	Andrei Rublev	No	Yes	No
1967	Tashkent	No	Yes	No
	The Story of Asya Klyachina	Yes	No	No		FIPRESCI Award (Venice Film Festival) Honorable Mention (Berlin International Film Festival) Nika Award for Best Director
1969	A Nest of Gentry	Yes	Yes	No		Jussi Award for Best Foreign Director
1970	End of the Ataman	No	Yes	No
	Uncle Vanya	Yes	Yes	No		Silver Seashell (San Sebastián International Film Festival) Jussi Award for Best Foreign Director Nominated- Gold Hugo (Chicago International Film Festival)
1972	We're Waiting for You, Lad	No	Yes	No
	The Seventh Bullet	No	Yes	No
1974	The Fierce One	No	Yes	No
	A Lover's Romance	Yes	No	No		Crystal Globe (Karlovy Vary International Film Festival)
1976	A Slave of Love	No	Yes	No
1978	Blood and Sweat	No	Yes	No
1979	Siberiade	Yes	Yes	No		Grand Prix Spécial du Jury (Cannes Film Festival) Nominated- Palme d'Or Nominated- Gold Hugo (Chicago International Film Festival)
1984	Maria's Lovers	Yes	Yes	No	United States	Nominated- César Award for Best Foreign Film Nominated- Golden Lion (Venice Film Festival)
1985	Runaway Train	Yes	No	No		Nominated- Palme d'Or
1986	Duet for One	Yes	Yes	No	United States    United Kingdom
1987	Shy People	Yes	Yes	No	United States	Nominated- Palme d'Or
1989	Tango & Cash	Yes	No	No
1989	Homer and Eddie	Yes	No	No		Golden Shell (San Sebastián International Film Festival) (tied with La nación clandestina) Critics Award (Deauville American Film Festival)
1991	The Inner Circle	Yes	Yes	No	United States    Russia    Italy	Nominated- Golden Bear (Berlin International Film Festival)
1994	Assia and the Hen with the Golden Eggs	Yes	Yes	Yes	Russia	Import Award (Tromsø International Film Festival) Nominated- Palme d'Or (Cannes Film Festival) Nominated- Nika Award for Best Film
2002	House of Fools	Yes	No	Yes		Grand Special Jury Prize (Venice Film Festival) UNICEF Award (Venice Film Festival) Jury Award – Honourable Mention (Bergen International Film Festival) Nominated- Golden Lion (Venice Film Festival)
2005	Culture is Destiny	No	Yes	Yes		Documentary film
2007	Gloss	Yes	No	Yes
	Moscow Chill	No	Yes	Yes
2009	The Last Station	No	No	Exec	Russia    Germany    United Kingdom
2010	The Nutcracker in 3D	Yes	Yes	Yes	Hungary    United Kingdom
2012	Bitva za Ukrainu	Yes	Yes	Yes	Russia	Documentary film
2013	Royal Paintbox	No	No	Yes	United Kingdom
2014	The Postman's White Nights	Yes	Yes	Yes	Russia	Silver Lion (Venice Film Festival) Silver Lion - Best Director (Venice Film Festival) Green Drop Award (Venice Film Festival) Golden Eagle Award for Best Screenplay Lady Harimaguada de Plata Award for Best Film (Las Palmas de Gran Canaria International Film Festival) Nominated- Golden Lion (Venice Film Festival)
2016	Paradise	Yes	Yes	Yes	Russia    Germany	Silver Lion (Venice Film Festival) Leoncino d'Oro Agiscuola Award (Venice Film Festival) Premio Padre Nazareno Taddei (Venice Film Festival) Founder's Award (Chicago International Film Festival) German Cinema Award for Peace (Filmfest München) Golden Eagle Award for Best Motion Picture Golden Eagle Award for Best Director Nika Award for Best Film Nika Award for Best Director Russian Guild of Film Critics White Elephant Award for Best Film Russian Guild of Film Critics White Elephant Award for Best Director Silver Astor Award for Best Screenplay (Mar del Plata International Film Festival) Youth Jury Award for Best Feature Film (Gijón International Film Festival) Cinematic Excellence Award (Haifa International Film Festival) Nominated- Golden Lion (Venice Film Festival) Nominated- Gold Hugo (Chicago International Film Festival)
2019	Sin	Yes	Yes	Yes	Russia    Italy	Released Oct 2019
2020	Dear Comrades	Yes	Yes	Yes	Russia	Special Jury Prize (Venice Film Festival) Nominated- Golden Lion (Venice Film Festival) Nominated- Gold Hugo (Chicago International Film Festival)

Short films

Year	Title	Functioned as		Country of Origin	Notes
Director	Writer
1960	The Steamroller and the Violin	No	Yes	Soviet Union
1961	The Boy and the Dove	Yes	Yes		Coursework with E. Ostashenko Top Prize - Debutants' Competition (Venice Children and Youth Film Festival)
1982	Split Cherry Tree	Yes	No	United States	Nominated- Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film
2007	Dans le noir	Yes	No	France	Segment of the anthology film To Each His Own Cinema

Television

Year	Title	Functioned as		Country of Origin	Notes
Director	Writer
1977	Trans-Siberian Express	No	Yes	Soviet Union
1997	The Odyssey	Yes	No	United States	Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special
2003	The Lion in Winter	Yes	No		Outstanding Director of a Mini-Series Award (Festival de Télévision de Monte-Carlo) Nominated- Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special
2003–04	Geniuses	Yes	No	Russia	Documentary series; 6 episodes
2004	The Burden of Power	Yes	No		Documentary series; 2 episodes

Music videos

• 2007 Dorogie moi moskvichi, by singer Dima Bilan.
• 2007 O Sole Miо, by singer Dima Bilan

Theatre projects

• “Eugene Onegin”. A play performed at La Scala, Italy, in 1985.
• “The Queen of Spades”. A play performed at La Scala, Italy, in 1990.
• “Miss Julie”. A play performed at the Malaya Bronnaya Theatre, Moscow, in 2005.
• “King Lear”. A play performed at Na Woli, Warsaw, in 2006.
• “The Seagull”. A play performed at the Odeon Theatre, Paris, in 1987, and at the Mossovet Theatre, Moscow, in 2004. Toured Italy in 2007.
• “Uncle Vanya”. A play performed at the Mossovet Theatre, Moscow, since 2009. Toured Italy in 2009, the Baltics in 2009 and Israel in 2010.
• "Three sisters" A play performed at the Mossovet Theatre, Moscow, since 2012.
• "La Bisbetica Domata" A play performed at the San Ferdinando Theater, Naples, 2013.
• "Edip di Colone" A play performed at Teatro Olimpico, Vicenza, 2014.
• "The Cherry Orchad" A play performed at the Mossovet Theatre, Moscow, since 2016.
• "Edip di Colone" A play performed at the Tovstonogov Bolshoi Drama Theater, Saint-Petersburg, since 2017.

Operas

• “War and Peace”. An opera staged at the Mariinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg, in 2000, and at the Metropolitan Opera, New York, in 2002 and 2009.
• “Un ballo in maschera”. An opera staged at the Teatro Regio, Italy, in 2001, and at the Mariinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg, in 2001.
• “Boris Godunov”. An opera staged at the Teatro Regio, Turin, Italy, in 2010.
• “Our Ancient Capital”. A musical event held to commemorate Moscow's 850th anniversary on Red Square in 1997.
• “Celebrating 300 Years of St. Petersburg”. A spectacular show held in St. Petersburg, in 2003.

• 1977 “Parabola of Concept”
• 1991 “The Inner Circle: An Inside View of Soviet Life Under Stalin”
• 1998 “Low Truths”
• 1999 “Elevating Deception”
• 2001 “White Lilac”
• 2006 “Low Truths Seven Years Later”
• 2007 “On the Stand of a Reactionary” (co-written with V.B. Pastukhov)

Documentaries

• 2003 Sergei Prokofiev TV documentary in the “Geniuses” series.
• 2003 Sergei Rachmaninoff TV documentary in the “Geniuses” series.
• 2004 Yuri Andropov TV documentary in “The Burden of Power” series, in collaboration with A. Kolesnikov.
• 2004 Heydar Aliyev TV documentary in “The Burden of Power” series.
• 2005 Culture is Destiny documentary, 2005. Author and presenter: Andrei Konchalovsky, director: Igor Kalyadin.
• 2006 Alexander Scriabin TV documentary in the “Geniuses” series.
• 2006 Igor Stravinsky TV documentary in the "Geniuses" series.
• 2007 Dmitri Shostakovich TV documentary in the "Geniuses" series.
• 2007 Vladimir Sofronitsky TV documentary in the "Geniuses" series.
• 2012 Bitva za Ukrainu
• 2015 POETIC PORTRAITS AT GIFT FESTIVAL documentary film by shota kalandadze

Screenplays

• 1960 The Steamroller and the Violin. Co-scripted with A. Tarkovsky.
• 1961 The Boy and the Dove (coursework with E. Ostashenko). Top prize (in the débutantes' competition) for the Children and Youth Film Festival in Venice (Italy), 1962.
• 1962 Ivan's Childhood. Co-scripted with V. Bogomolov, M. Papava, A. Tarkovsky. “Golden Lion” at the 1962 Venice International Film Festival (Italy).
• 1965 The First Teacher. Co-scripted with Ch. Aitmatov, B. Dobrodeev, A. Tarkovsky.
• 1966 Andrei Rublev. Co-scripted with A. Tarkovsky. FIPRESCI Prize at the Cannes International Film Festival, 1969 (France).
• 1967 Tashkent, a City of Plenty. Co-scripted with A. Neverov, A. Tarkovsky.
• 1969 A Nest of Gentlefolk (based on the novel by I. Turgenev). Co-scripted with V. Ezhov.
• 1970 Uncle Vanya. Author of the adapted screenplay.
• 1970 End of the Ataman. Co-scripted with A. Tarkovsky, E. Tropinin.
• 1972 We're Waiting for You, Lad (Zhdem tebya, paren). Co-scripted with E. Tropinin.
• 1972 The Seventh Bullet. Co-scripted with F. Gorenstein.
• 1973 The Fierce One. Co-scripted with A. Tarkovsky, E. Tropinin.
• 1973 The Admirer (Poklonnik). Co-scripted with A. Khachaturov.
• 1974 Song About Manshuk. Author of the screenplay.
• 1975 One Life Is Not Enough (Odnoi zhizniy malo). Author of the screenplay.
• 1978 Blood and Sweat (Krov i pot). Co-scripted with A. Khachaturov.
• 1976 A Slave of Love (Raba lyubvi). Co-scripted with F. Gorenstein.
• 1977 Trans-Siberian Express (Transsibirksiy express). Co-scripted with A. Adabashyan, N. Mikhalkov.
• 1978 Siberiade. Co-scripted with Ezhov.
• 1983 Maria's Lovers (USA). Co-scripted with J. Brush, P. Zindel, F. Bayars.
• 1986 Duet for One (USA) (based on the play by T. Kempinski). Co-scripted with R. Garcia.
• 1987 Shy People (USA). Co-scripted with J. Brush, M. David.
• 1992 The Inner Circle. Co-scripted with A. Usov.
• 1994 Ryaba, My Chicken. Co-scripted with V. Merezhko.
• 2007 Moscow Chill. Co-scripted with C. Solimine.
• 2010 The Nutcracker in 3D. Co-scripted with C. Solimine.
• 2014 The Postman's White Nights. Co-scripted with E. Kiseleva.
• 2016 Paradise. Co-scripted with E. Kiseleva.
• 2018 The Sin. Co-scripted with E. Kiseleva.

Music videos

• 2007 Dorogie moi moskvichi (My Dear Muscovites), by singer Dima Bilan.
• 2007 O Sole Miо, by singer Dima Bilan.

Production

• 1994 Ryaba, My Chicken. Co-produced with S. Bayev, C. Bolzli, D. Ouaknine, N. Garo.
• 2002 House of Fools. Co-produced with S. Khramtsov, F. Kleiman.
• 2007 Moscow Chill. Co-produced with D. Dobouzhinsky, O. Ioguchevym, C. Tuffin.
• 2010 The Last Station. Executive producer.
• 2010 The Nutcracker in 3D. Co-produced with P. Lowin, J. Circó, M. Clark, M. Borman.
• 2013 Royal Paintbox. Co-produced with M. Kinmonth.
• 2014 The Postman's White Nights.
• 2016 Paradise. Co-produced with F. Deyle.
• 2018 The Sin. Co-produced with A. Usmanov.

Acting

• 1961 The Trial of Madmen
• 1962 Ivan's Childhood (a soldier)
• 1964 I Am Twenty (Mne dvadtsat let) (Yuri)
• 1994 Ryaba, My Chicken (a customer at the barber's, uncredited)

Films about Konchalovsky

• 2007 Andrei Konchalovsky. On Stage. A documentary directed by Nikita Tikhonov.
• 2007 Andrei Konchalovsky. On the Silver Screen. A documentary directed by Alexei Kolesnikov.
• 2017 Andrei Konchalovsky. Fild of Attraction. A documentary directed by Sergei Braverman.

Theatre projects

• “Eugene Onegin”. A play performed at La Scala, Italy, in 1985.
• “The Queen of Spades”. A play performed at La Scala, Italy, in 1990.
• “Miss Julie”. A play performed at the Malaya Bronnaya Theatre, Moscow, in 2005.
• “King Lear”. A play performed at Na Woli, Warsaw, in 2006.
• “The Seagull”. A play performed at the Odeon Theatre, Paris, in 1987, and at the Mossovet Theatre, Moscow, in 2004. Toured Italy in 2007.
• “Uncle Vanya”. A play performed at the Mossovet Theatre, Moscow, since 2009. Toured Italy in 2009, the Baltics in 2009 and Israel in 2010.
• "Three sisters" A play performed at the Mossovet Theatre, Moscow, since 2012.
• "La Bisbetica Domata" A play performed at the San Ferdinando Theater, Naples, 2013.
• "Edip di Colone" A play performed at Teatro Olimpico, Vicenza, 2014.
• "The Cherry Orchad" A play performed at the Mossovet Theatre, Moscow, since 2016.
• "Edip di Colone" A play performed at the Tovstonogov Bolshoi Drama Theater, Saint-Petersburg, since 2017.

Operas

• “War and Peace”. An opera staged at the Mariinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg, in 2000, and at the Metropolitan Opera, New York, in 2002 and 2009.
• “Un ballo in maschera”. An opera staged at the Teatro Regio, Italy, in 2001, and at the Mariinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg, in 2001.
• “Boris Godunov”. An opera staged at the Teatro Regio, Turin, Italy, in 2010.
• “Our Ancient Capital”. A musical event held to commemorate Moscow's 850th anniversary on Red Square in 1997.
• “Celebrating 300 Years of St. Petersburg”. A spectacular show held in St. Petersburg, in 2003.

Bibliography

• 1977 “Parabola of Concept”
• 1991 “The Inner Circle: An Inside View of Soviet Life Under Stalin”
• 1998 “Low Truths”
• 1999 “Elevating Deception”
• 2001 “White Lilac”
• 2006 “Low Truths Seven Years Later”
• 2007 “On the Stand of a Reactionary” (co-written with V.B. Pastukhov)