Budimir Metalnikov

Budimir Alekseyevich Metalnikov (; 27 September 1925 – 1 September 2001) was a Soviet and Russian film director and screenwriter.

Early years Metalnikov was born in Moscow into an educated Russian family of chemical engineers. His father Aleksei Petrovich Metalnikov came from peasants. He was working as the chief engineer at the Apatit enterprise when he was arrested in 1937. Budimir's mother Zinaida Georgiyevna Metalnikova was also arrested shortly after. The 12-year-old Budimir and his 3-year-old sister Marina were taken to the NKVD reception center for children of enemies of the people situated in the Danilov Monastery. The children were then separated and put into different orphanages; Metalnikov never managed to find his sister, despite all his attempts. In 1939 he was sent to Kirovohrad to study in one of the vocational schools to be an electrician. After a while he received a letter from his aunt along with some money and returned to Moscow where he continued studying.

In 1942 Metalnikov was enrolled to the Red Army. After some studying in the infantry school and serving in the airborne brigade he was sent to fight at the Karelian Front. He was heavily wounded during one of the battles and spent many months in hospitals. In October 1944 he was sent home as war-disabled. On his return he entered an evening school, but soon left it to study screenwriting at VGIK under Yevgeny Gabrilovich and Ilya Vicefield. He graduated in 1954 and immediately started working in cinema. His next screenplay was made into A Simple Story movie by the director Yuri Yegorov and released in 1960 to even a greater success: with 46.8 million viewers it became one of the box office leaders and the 48th most popular Soviet movie of all time. It featured an ensemble cast of the acclaimed Russian actors: Nonna Mordyukova, Mikhail Ulyanov and Vasily Shukshin. Mordyukova's character was partly inspired by her own personality and was written specially for her. It was also nominated for the 1971 Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

Between 1955 and 2001 Metalnikov wrote screenplays to 20 Soviet and Russian movies, including three movies directed by himself. He had been also working as an educator at High Courses for Scriptwriters and Film Directors since 1966.

Filmography Year Title Original title Director Screenwriter 1959 A Home for Tanya Отчий дом 1960 Alyosha's Love Алёшкина любовь 1960 A Simple Story Простая история 1966 Women Женщины 1967 The House and the Owner Дом и хозяин 1969 Tchaikovsky Чайковский 1973 The Silence of Dr. Evans Молчание доктора Ивенса 1973 Of Those I Remember and Love О тех, кого помню и люблю 1981 Three Times About Love Трижды о любви1986Coasts in the MistБерега в тумане 1987 The End of Eternity Конец вечности 2004 Salamandra's Skin Кожа саламандры

Awards and honors

Order of the Badge of Honour (1975) Honored Art Worker of the RSFSR (1978) Order of the Patriotic War, 2nd class (1985) Order of Friendship of Peoples (1985) Order of the Red Banner of Labour

Literature Budimir Metalnikov (2006). I Will Tell You ... Memoirs. — Moscow: Russkiy impuls, 464 pages.