Aleksey Balabanov

Aleksey Balabanov (25 February 1959 – 18 May 2013) was born in Sverdlovsk (now Yekaterinburg). In 1981 Balabanov graduated from Translation Faculty of Gorky Teachers' Training University. He then served in the Soviet Army as a translator. After his discharge, from 1983 to 1987 he worked as an assistant of a film director at Sverdlovsk film studio. Later Balabanov studied at the experimental course "Auteur Cinema" of the High Courses for Scriptwriters and Film Directors, graduating in 1990. Made his feature debut in 1992 with Happy Days. In 1994 Balabanov together with Sergey Selyanov and Viktor Sergeyev founded the production company CTV. He was best known for the 1997 crime film Brat, and its more action-oriented sequel, Brat-2 both of which starred Sergei Bodrov, Jr. as a novice hit man. Brother was successful both at the box office and in video copies, achieving wide popularity in Russia. Later, however, Balabanov became better known for his shocking and controversial films Cargo 200 (2007) and Morphine (2008). Among his most notable works The Castle (1994), Of Freaks and Men (1998), The River (2002), Cargo 200 (2007) and Me Too (2012).

Moscow International Film Festival