Aleksei Balabanov

Balabanov was born on 25 February 1959, in Sverdlovsk (now Yekaterinburg). In 1981, Balabanov graduated from the Translation Department of the Gorky Pedagogical University of Foreign Languages. He then served in the Soviet Army as an officer-interpreter. After his discharge, he worked as an assistant film director at the Sverdlovsk Film Studio. from 1983 to 1987. Balabanov shot his first film in 1987, in the Urals. The script of the film was written over the course of one night. This low-budget work was filmed in a restaurant. Later, Balabanov studied at the experimental workshop "Auteur Cinema" (Russian: Авторское кино) at High Courses for Scriptwriters and Film Directors, graduating in 1990. Balabanov lived and worked in St. Petersburg From 1990. In 1991, Balabanov directed his feature film debut Happy Days based on the works of Samuel Beckett. It was screened at the Cannes Film Festival in 1994. In 1994, Balabanov, together with Sergey Selyanov and Viktor Sergeyev, founded the production company CTV. That same year, he directed an adaptation of Franz Kafka's The Castle. His next film, Brother (1997), a crime drama about a contract killer, was a box-office and critical success. The film featured music by the band Nautilus Pompilus for which Balabanov had previously directed several music videos. It was screened at the Cannes Film Festival in 1997. It was a breakthrough film for Balabanov and the lead actor Sergei Bodrov Jr., making them instantly known throughout Russia. The success of the movie led to the creation of the sequel, Brother 2, also directed by Balabanov and starring Bodrov. The film is set in Chicago. He directed Of Freaks and Men in 1998 about the emerging pornography business in turn-of-the-century Imperial Russia. The film premiered at the Directors' Fortnight of 1998 Cannes Film Festival. Dead Man's Bluff (2005) was Balabanov's first foray into dark comedy. Cargo 200 (2007), partially based on Faulkner's novel Sanctuary, was controversial among critics and audiences because of the graphic display of violence in the film. Cannes Film Festival programmer Joël Chapron likened the picture to a "snuff film" at the Sochi Film Festival premiere. Balabanov's last completed film was Me Too, which was screened at the Venice Film Festival in 2012.

He was married to costume designer Nadezhda Vasilyeva. He had two sons.

Balabanov struggled to cope with the death of actor and close friend Sergei Bodrov Jr., who was killed during the Kolka–Karmadon rock ice slide while filming Bodrov Jr.'s later-cancelled film Messenger in September 2002. Also killed by the mudslide were 41 cast and crew members of Messenger, many of whom had also worked with Balabanov. Balabanov felt guilty over Bodrov Jr.'s death as he had suggested the shooting location to him. Prior to that, in 2000, actress Tuyara Svinoboeva had been killed in a car crash during the shoot of The River. Balabanov's alcohol consumption increased considerably and he died on 18 May 2013 of a heart attack. Balabanov was buried near his father's grave at Smolensky Cemetery in St. Petersburg.

Prior to his death, Balabanov was reportedly planning to make a film on Stalin, portraying him as a 'godfather of crime'. After a fatal car crash on set, Balabanov's film The River about a leper colony in Yakutia was released as a short film with a voiceover narrating unfilmed parts of the story.

Balabanov directed several music videos: Three clips for the band Nautilus Pompilius: "A glimpse from the screen" (Russian: Взгляд с экрана, 1988), "Pure demon" (Russian: Чистый бес, 1992), and "In the rain" (Russian: Во время дождя, 1997; soundtrack to his movie Brother); A clip for Nastya (band): "Stratosphere" (Russian: Стратосфера, 1989); Together with the director Valery Makushchenko, a clip for the band Bi-2: "No One Writes to the Colonel" (Russian: Полковнику никто не пишет, 2000; soundtrack to his film Brother 2).