Biography

Nikita Mikhalkov is the son of the famous communist poet Sergey Mikhalkov, who wrote the lyrics of the Soviet national anthem and had strong connections to the Communist Party. Nikita Mikhalkov's mother, Natalya Petrovna Konchalovskaya, was also a poet and daughter of famous painter Pyotr Petrovich Konchalovsky and his wife Olga Vasilievna Surikova, and by her the great granddaughter of another great painter Vasily Surikov. And then last, but not least, Nikita Mikhalkov is the brother of Andrei Konchalovsky, also a distinguished film director who, unlike Nikita, has worked in the USA.

Not only did Mikhalkov direct the Academy Award-winning film "Burnt by the Sun" but he is also well-known as a versatile actor, having appeared in over 40 films, including the role of the Russian Tsar Alexander III in his own "The Barber of Siberia" (1998).

Mikhalkov has an impressively long list of wins at the most prestigious film festivals, like Cannes, Venice, Moscow or Karlovy Vary.

Following his movie's Oscar win for Best Foreign Language Film, Nikita Mikhalkov won a parliamentary seat in the then Prime Minister Victor Chernomyrdin's party.

He is always in the spotlight, especially in Moscow, where he resides.
- IMDb mini biography by: Anonymous

Russian film-maker and actor Nikita Sergeyevich Mikhalkov was born on October, 21, 1945, a son of a well-known Russian poet Sergey Mikhalkov, who provided lyrics for the Russian anthem, and Natalya Petrovna Konchalovskaya, also a poet. As a child he was exposed to genuine literary talk at home, which was a fulcrum for a Russian art community. Mikhalkov was educated at the state film school VGIK and graduated in 1971 with a short film Quiet Day at War's End as his degree project. He quickly established himself as one of the most promising Russian directors with a vision of his own. Fame and recognition came with At Home among Strangers (1974)

• a crime story set against the backdrop of a civil war. A biopic about

a silent movie star Slave of Love (1976), An Unfinished Piece for a Player Piano (1977), and A Few Days in the Life of I.I.Oblomov (1979) - the latter two inspired by the themes from the Russian classical literature - were praised for technical brilliance.

Mikhalkov often starred in his films and occasionally appeared in other directors' movies. Five Evenings (1979) and Kinfolk (1981) combined comedy and drama in consideration of important issues of the day. As his fame and international audience grew, his films never went unnoticed at prestigious European film festivals and earned him numerous awards. Dark Eyes (1987) - a love story loosely based on Chekhov's novel, Hitch-hiking (1990), and Close to Eden (1991) enjoyed popularity with cinema-goers and got widespread critical acclaim.

Mikhalkov's personal ambition was to repeat a success of The Cranes Are Flying - the only Russian film to have won the Palme d"Or at the Cannes Festival. In 1994, his Stalin era drama Burnt by the Sun (1994) was overshadowed by Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction (1994) at Cannes and, upon returning home, he made some unpleasant remarks about "those people in France neglecting masterpieces" and vowed never to take part in any film festival, again. So far, he has kept his promise. Burnt by the Sun, however, became a hit of its own and won an Academy Award (Oscar) for the Best Foreign Film. Because of his controversial political views, he fell from public favor in the late 1990s, although his The Barber of Siberia (1998) (aka "The Barber of Siberia" (1998)) - a grandiose, big budget romance set in the 19th century Russia - became a runaway box office success. Opinions on his directing polarize. Some view him as the greatest living Russian film-maker. The others say that he is a typical old school director who fails to produce new ideas in his films.
- IMDb mini biography by: Mike (hfhfdfse@rol.ru)