Olga Preobrazhenskaya

Olga Ivanovna Preobrazhenskaya (, 24 July 1881 – 30 October 1971) was a Russian actress and film director. She was one of the first female film directors and the first female film director in Russia.

She is best known for directing the films Women of Ryazan (1927) and And Quiet Flows the Don (1930).

Biography Olga Ivanovna Preobrazhenskaya was born on 24 July 1881, in Moscow. From 1901 to 1904, she studied in the actor school of Moscow Art Theater. From 1905, she worked in theaters in Poltava, Tbilisi, Riga, Odessa, Voronezh and Moscow.

In 1913, she debuted as film actress in , directed by Vladimir Gardin and Yakov Protazanov, and she starred in several popular adaptations of Russian classics, such as War and Peace and On the Eve (both 1915). Preobrazhenskaya was one of the founders of the actor school of the VGIK, where she taught from 1918 to 1925. When it was released it received praise, but since it was the debut film of a woman director, it was treated with distrust, and on the posters and reviews her name was often written with a male ending or attributed to other directors.

After graduating from the Moscow Art Theater School in 1923 she worked as a director at the Goskino film studio (now Mosfilm), was the second director on the films Locksmith and Chancellor (1923). Starting in 1927, she collaborated with film director Ivan Pravov, with whom she made several films together. Their most well-known films were Women of Ryazan (1927) and And Quiet Flows the Don (1930). 1923 The Landowner (Помещик) 1919 The Iron Heel (Железная пята) 1916 Whose Guilt? (Чья вина?) 1916 Deep Pool (Омут) 1916 The Great Passion (Великая страсть) 1915 Privalov's Millions (Приваловские миллионы) 1915 Plebeian (Плебей) 1915 Peterburg Slums (Петербургские трущобы) 1915 On the Eve (Накануне) 1915 The Garnet Bracelet (Гранатовый браслет) 1915 War and Peace (Война и мир) 1914 Mask of Death (Маска смерти) 1914 A Nest of Gentlefolk (Дворянское гнездо) 1935 Paths of Enemies (Вражьи тропы) Director co-directed with Ivan Pravov 1930 And Quiet Flows the Don (Тихий Дон) Director co-directed with Ivan Pravov 1929 The Last Attraction (Последний аттракцион) Director co-directed with Ivan Pravov 1928 A Town Full of Light (Светлый город) Director co-directed with Ivan Pravov 1927 Women of Ryazan (Бабы рязанские) Director 1927 Anne (Аня) Director 1926 Kashtanka (Каштанка) Director 1925 Fedka's truth (Федькина правда) Director 1923 The Landowner (Помещик) Director 1918 Tale of Priest Pankrat (Сказка о попе Панкрате) Director 1917 Victoria (Виктория) Director 1916 Miss Peasant (Барышня - крестьянка) Director co-directed with Vladimir Gardin