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Vadim Abdrashitov

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Vadim Abdrashitov
Вадим Абдрашитов
Abdrashitov in 2012
Born(1945-01-19)19 January 1945
Kharkov, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Died12 February 2023(2023-02-12) (aged 78)
Moscow, Russia
OccupationFilm director

Vadim Yusupovich Abdrashitov (Russian: Вадим Юсупович Абдрашитов, Tatar: Вадим Йосыф улы Габдерәшитов; 19 January 1945 – 12 February 2023) was a Russian film director. He was internationally renowned as one of Russian cinema's most notable independent directors, with awards from the Berlin and Venice Film Festivals, and was a People's Artist of Russia.

Early life and education

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Abdrashitov was born in Ukraine to a Tatar father and a Russian mother. He moved all over the Soviet Union with his father's military assignments.

Abdrashitov 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.[1][2] Around that time, he developed an interest in amateur filmmaking, and he transferred to the Мendeleev University of Chemical Technology because it was equipped with a film studio for students. His cultural and artistic interests developed during the "Thaw".[3]

After graduation as an engineer, he worked as a manager at the Moscow Electric-Vacuum Industry, which was making colour TV tubes.[3]

From 1970 to 1974, Abdrashitov studied film directing at the Moscow Institute of Cinematography (Gerasimov Institute).[4][5]

Career

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Vadim Abdrashitov and Konstantin Balakirev at Stalker Film Festival, 15 December 2015

Abdrashitov's directorial debut was 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.[4]

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.[6]

Themes and style

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Abdrashitov's films are often characterized 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.[7]

Other roles

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In 1990, he was a member of the jury at the 40th Berlin International Film Festival.[8]

In 2016, he became a member of the board of trustees for the Fazil Iskander International Literary Award.[9]

Abdrashitov also acted as the president of the Russian Guild of Film Directors and the Stalker Human Rights Film Festival.[10][11]

Personal life and death

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Abdrashitov was married to artist Natella Toidze, a member of the Russian Academy of Arts.[12]

Abdrashitov died on 12 February 2023, at the age of 78, from COVID-19, during the COVID-19 pandemic in Russia.[13][14]

Awards and honours

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Selected filmography

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References

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  1. ^ Скончался режиссёр Вадим Абдрашитов 12 February
  2. ^ Причиной смерти режиссера Абдрашитова стали последствия коронавируса 12 February
  3. ^ a b Lawton, Anna (2007). Before the fall: Soviet cinema in the Gorbachev years. New Academia Publishing. p. 53. ISBN 978-0-9744934-0-4.
  4. ^ a b Vadim Abdrashitov at IMDb
  5. ^ "У "Золотого Минбара" появился председатель". Archived from the original on 11 November 2014. Retrieved 6 October 2007.
  6. ^ "Rostov to hold charitable action of International Film Festival Stalker". Caucasian Knot. 18 February 2010. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  7. ^ P., Rollberg (2016). Historical dictionary of Russian and Soviet cinema (Second ed.). Lanham, Maryland. ISBN 9781442268418. OCLC 936205531.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  8. ^ "Berlinale: 1990 Juries". berlinale.de. Retrieved 14 March 2011.
  9. ^ "Jury" Жюри [Jury]. Fazil Iskander International Literary Award (Iskander Prize) (in Russian). 5 April 2022. Retrieved 5 April 2022.
  10. ^ "О фестивале". Международный фестиваль фильмов о правах человека «Сталкер» (Stalker Film Festival) (in Russian). Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  11. ^ "The Jury Prize of the Stalker Festival was awarded to a film about Major Izmailov". 247 News Bulletin. 17 December 2021. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  12. ^ "Нателла Тоидзе: Мою творческую судьбу предопределил мордовский скульптор Эрьзя". Известия Мордовии. 12 May 2012. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
  13. ^ "Причиной смерти режиссера Абдрашитова стали последствия коронавируса". 12 February 2023.
  14. ^ "Умер режиссёр Вадим Абдрашитов". 12 February 2023.
  15. ^ British Film Institute (1988). BFI Film and Television Yearbook. Concert Publications.
  16. ^ "Berlinale: 1989 Prize Winners". berlinale.de. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
  17. ^ "Berlinale: 1995 Prize Winners". berlinale.de. Retrieved 31 December 2011.
  18. ^ Richard Taylor; Nancy Wood; Julian Graffy; Dina Iordanova (2019). The BFI Companion to Eastern European and Russian Cinema. Bloomsbury. p. 1935. ISBN 978-1838718497.
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