Aleksei Balabanov

Aleksei Oktyabrinovich Balabanov (; 25 February 1959 – 18 May 2013) was a Russian filmmaker. A member of the European Film Academy, he began his career by creating mostly arthouse pictures and music videos but gained significant mainstream popularity in action crime drama movies Brother and Brother 2 (2000), both of which starred Sergei Bodrov, Jr. Later, Balabanov directed the films Cargo 200 (2007), Morphine (2008), and A Stoker (2010), which also received critical recognition.

Life and career Balabanov was born on 25 February 1959, in Sverdlovsk (now Yekaterinburg). 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.

Balabanov's last completed film was Me Too, which was screened at the Venice Film Festival in 2012.

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

Balabanov was buried near his father's grave at Smolensky Cemetery in St. Petersburg.

Unfinished projects

Prior to his death, Balabanov was reportedly planning to make a film on Stalin, portraying him as a 'godfather of crime'.

Legacy

Largely due to the popularity of Brother and Brother 2, Balabanov is frequently cited as one of Russia's greatest ever film directors.

Works Filmography Year English title Original title Notes Cyrillic Transliteration 1987 There Used to Be Another Time Раньше было другое время Ran'she bylo drugoye vremya short film 1988 I Don't Have a Friend or One Step Beyond У меня нет друга, или One step beyond U menya net druga, ili One step beyond short film 1998 Of Freaks and Men Про уродов и людей Pro urodov i lyudey 2000 Brother 2 Брат 2 Brat 2 2002 The River Река Reka 2002 War Война Voyna 2005 Dead Man's Bluff Жмурки Zhmurki 2006 It Doesn't Hurt Me Мне не больно Mne ne bol'no 2007 Cargo 200 Груз 200 Gruz 200 2008 Morphia Морфий Morfiy 2010 A Stoker Кочегар Kochegar 2012 Me Too Я тоже хочу Ya tozhe khochu

Music videos Balabanov directed several music videos:

Three clips for the band Nautilus Pompilius: "A glimpse from the screen" (, 1988), "Pure demon" (, 1992), and "In the rain" (, 1997; soundtrack to his movie Brother); A clip for : "Stratosphere" (, 1989); Together with the director Valery Makushchenko, a clip for the band Bi-2: "No One Writes to the Colonel" (, 2000; soundtrack to his film Brother 2).