Andrei Konchalovsky

Early years

Konchalovsky was born 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.^[2] 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).

Career

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.^[3] 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.

Andrei Konchalovsky at a press conference in Vienna, 2016.

2010 marked the release of Andrei Konchalovsky’s much-anticipated cinematic adaptation of the traditional fairytale, 'The Nutcracker in 3D'. This musical CGI-spectacular featured Elle Fanning in the role of little Mary, as well as Nathan Lane, Richard E Grant and John Turturro in the principal roles. Lyrics were provided by Academy Award® winner Sir 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 picked up a Crystal Globe nomination 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 HRH 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.^[4][5] 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.^[6][7] It was selected as the Russian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 89th Academy Awards.^[8][9][10]

Personal life

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 is 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).

As director

Year	Title	Notes
1961	The Boy and the Dove	Soviet Union Coursework with E. Ostashenko Top prize (in debutants' competition) at the 1962 Children and Youth Film Festival in Venice, Italy
1965	The First Teacher	Soviet Union Thesis Volpi Cup for Best Actress (Natalya Arinbasarova) at the Venice International Film Festival, 1966. Jussi Award for Best Foreign Director, Finland, 1973
1967	The Story of Asya Klyachina, Who Loved But Did Not Marry	Soviet Union International Federation of Film Critics FIPRESCI Award Honorable Mention at the Berlin International Film Festival, 1988 The Nika Award (Soviet Union) for Best Director, 1989
1969	A Nest of Gentlefolk	Soviet Union Jussi Award for Best Foreign Director at the International Film Festival in Finland, 1973
1970	Uncle Vanya	Soviet Union Silver Seashell at the San Sebastián International Film Festival (Spain), 1971 Jussi Award for Best Foreign Director at the International Film Festival in Finland, 1973
1974	A Lover's Romance	Soviet Union Crystal Globe at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (Czechoslovakia), 1974
1979	Siberiade	Soviet Union Grand Prix Spécial du Jury at the 32nd Cannes Film Festival, 1979
1982	Split Cherry Tree	United States Best Short Film Academy Award nomination
1984	Maria's Lovers	United States Silver Ribbon from the Italian National Syndicate of Film Critics and Journalists, 1985 Nominated for the César Award for Best Foreign Film, 1985
1985	Runaway Train	United States Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama to Jon Voight, 1985 Academy Award nominations for Best Film Editing, Best Actor (Jon Voight) and Best Supporting Actor (Eric Roberts), 1985
1986	Duet for One	United States Golden Globes nomination for Best Actress in a Drama (Julie Andrews) 1987
1987	Shy People	United States Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress for Barbara Hershey, 1987
1989	Tango & Cash	United States
1989	Homer and Eddie	United States Golden Shell (tied with La nación clandestina) at San Sebastian International Film Festival (Spain), 1989
1992	The Inner Circle	United States Nominated for Nika Award for Best Composer (Edward Artemiev) Russia, 1993 Nominated for the Golden Bear at the 42nd Berlin International Film Festival.[12]
1994	Assia and the Hen with the Golden Eggs a.k.a. Kurochka Ryaba or Ryaba, My Chicken	Russia Import Award at the Tromsø International Film Festival (Norway), 1995 Palme d'Or nomination at the Cannes International Film Festival, 1994 Nika Award nomination for Best Film and Best Actress (Inna Churikova), 1995 Kinoshock Film Festival Award (Russia), 1994
1997	The Odyssey (TV miniseries)	United States Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special and for Outstanding Special Visual Effects (Mike McGee), 1997 Golden Globes nominations for Best Miniseries or Television Film and Best Actor - Miniseries or Television Film (Armand Assante), 1997
2002	House of Fools	Russia Grand Special Jury Prize and UNICEF Award at the Venice Film Festival, 2002 Jury Award – Honourable Mention at the 2002 Bergen International Film Festival (Norway)
2003	The Lion in Winter	Showtime  United States Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film (Glenn Close) Outstanding Director of a Mini-Series award at the Festival de Télévision de Monte-Carlo (Monaco) Winner of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Costumes for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special (Consolata Boyle, Rhona McGuirke, Magdalen Rubalcava) Golden Globe nominations for Best Miniseries or Television Film and Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film (Patrick Stewart)
2007	Gloss	Russia Best Female Performance nomination at the 2008 MTV Movie Awards Russia (Julia Vysotskaya)
2007	Dans le noir (In the Dark)	France Short film in the anthology To Each His Own Cinema (Chacun son cinéma : une déclaration d'amour au grand écran)
2010	The Nutcracker in 3D	Hungary/ United Kingdom
2014	The Postman's White Nights	Russia Winner of the Silver Lion at the 71st Venice International Film Festival 2015 'The Postman’s White Nights’, ‘Golden Eagle Award, Best screenplay (Russia) 2015 'The Postman’s White Nights’, Lady Harimaguada de Plata Awards, Best movie, 'Las Palmas de Gran Canaria International Film Festival (Spain) 2014 'The Postman’s White Nights’, ‘Silver Lion’, Best Director, 71st Venice International Film Festival (Italy) 2014 'The Postman’s White Nights’, ‘Green Drop Award’, 71st Venice International Film Festival (Italy) 2014 'The Postman’s White Nights’, Special Award of Festival of Russian movies ‘Sputnik' (Republic of Poland)
2016	Paradise	Russia/ Germany Winner of the Silver Lion at the 73rd Venice International Film Festival[13]Winner of the Leoncino d'Oro Agiscuola Award, 73rd Venice International Film Festival (Italy) Winner of the Premio Padre Nazareno Taddei, 73rd Venice International Film Festival (Italy) Winner of the 30th NIKA Award (Russian Academy of Cinema Arts and Science), Best Film (http://kino-nika.com/page1804207.html) Winner of the 30th NIKA Award (Russian Academy of Cinema Arts and Science), Best Director Winner of the ‘White Elephant Award’, Best Film (Russia) http://kinopressa.ru/w_el-2016 Winner of the ‘White Elephant Award’, Best Director (Russia) Winner of the ‘Golden Eagle Award’, Best Film (Russia) http://kinoacademy.ru/page/winners-award-2016 Winner of the ‘Golden Eagle Award’, Best Director (Russia) Winner of the Youth Jury Award for Best Feature Film, 54th Gijon International Film Festival (Spain) http://en.fic.gijon.es/page/16842-54th-edition-awards Winner of the ‘Silver Astor Award’, Best Screenplay, Mar del Plata International Film Festival, (Argentina)http://www.mardelplatafilmfest.com/en/edicion/31/astor-de-plata-a-mejor-guion-andrei-konchalovsky-y-elena-kiselev Winner of the Founder's Award, 52nd Chicago International Film Festival (CIFF) (USA) Winner of the Cinematic Excellence Award, 32nd Haifa International Film Festival (HIFF) (Israel)

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

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)