Andrey Zvyagintsev - biography of the director, photo, personal life, wife, children, creativity 2021

Biography of Andrey Zvyagintsev

Andrei Petrovich Zvyagintsev is a Russian director, author of the films “Exile”, “Return”, “Elena”, “Leviathan”, “Loveless”, who is already called a successor to the traditions of Andrei Tarkovsky. In his films, he invariably addresses the theme of the suffering of the human race, often through biblical allusions.

Director Andrey Zvyagintsev

Childhood and family of Andrei Zvyagintsev

Born in Novosibirsk, Andrei spent the first few months of his life in the village of Novomikhailovka. His parents divorced, and 5-year-old Andrei stayed to live with his mother, a school teacher of Russian language and literature.

Childhood photo of Andrey Zvyagintsev Zvyagintsev has been interested in art and literature since his school years. At 16, he enrolled in Lev Belov’s theater studio at the Novosibirsk Youth Theater. Later, on the basis of this studio, Belov completed his course at the local theater school, where Andrei was accepted.

As a sophomore, he played the main role in the Youth Theater production of “I Don’t Remember.” Upon graduating from college, Andrei was already involved in the productions “Accelerates” and “Nobody Will Believe.” Andrei received his college diploma in 1984. He remained in the Youth Theater. Soon he was drafted into the army. The service took place in the Novosibirsk military ensemble, where Zvyagintsev was the entertainer. Together with the ensemble, he performed at concerts in various garrisons.

In 1986, after returning from the army, Andrei decided to go to Moscow. He entered GITIS, taking the course of Vladimir Levertov and Evgeny Lazarev. There he studied at the acting department.

In the graduation performance based on Turgenev's play, Zvyagintsev played the role of Gorsky. It was 1990. The GITIS graduate decided not to go to the theater.

Childhood and youth

Andrey Petrovich Zvyagintsev was born on February 6, 1964. Hometown: Novosibirsk . Mother, Galina Aleksandrovna , is a teacher of Russian language and literature. The baby lived for several weeks in the village of Novomikhailovka, because... Mom went there for student internship. Andrei's father, Pyotr Mikhailovich , served as a policeman. When his son was 5 years old, he left, preferring another woman. The father and son failed to build a relationship.

His mother instilled in Andrey a love of reading and drama . From the age of 16, he took part in performances of Lev Belov's studio at the Novosibirsk Youth Theater. Later, Lev Serapionovich gained a stream at the Novosibirsk Theater School. Young Zvyagintsev began studying on this course.

Andrey Zvyagintsev in his youth

During his studies, the student performed in numerous performances at the Youth Theater. After graduating in 1984, he remained with the troupe.

In young age

The beginning of the career of actor Andrei Zvyagintsev, filmography

Sometimes Andrei starred in episodes of television series and filmed commercials. The actor starred in the TV series “Let’s Get Acquainted”, “Goryachev and Others”, “Kamenskaya”, and was also involved in the films “Shirley-Myrli” and “Kitten”. During the decade spent in Moscow, he took part in only two enterprise productions. In 1993 it was the play “Hopscotch Game”, and in 1997 – the play “A Month in the Country”. As Zvyagintsev himself admitted in an interview, in the nineties there was a time when he did not even have enough money to travel on the subway.

Director Andrei Zvyagintsev has many awards for his films. Zvyagintsev attracted attention with the commercials he shot. It should be noted that he created advertising without having a directing education. Dmitry Lesnevsky, who at that time was the producer of the television channel Ren TV, is precisely the person through whose suggestion the whole world soon recognized Zvyagintsev.

Filmography

Acting works

• 1994 – “Goryachev and others”
• 1996 – “Queen Margot”
• 1999 – “Kamenskaya”

Directing works

• 2000 – “Black Room”
• 2003 – “Return”
• 2007 – “Exile”
• 2010 – “Elena”
• 2014 – “Leviathan”
• 2017 – “Loveless”

Sometimes Andrei starred in episodes of television series and filmed commercials. The actor starred in the TV series “Let’s Get Acquainted”, “Goryachev and Others”, “Kamenskaya”, and was also involved in the films “Shirley-Myrli” and “Kitten”. During the decade spent in Moscow, he took part in only two enterprise productions. In 1993 it was the play “Hopscotch Game”, and in 1997 – the play “A Month in the Country”.

As Zvyagintsev himself admitted in an interview, in the nineties there was a time when he didn’t even have enough money to travel on the subway. Director Andrei Zvyagintsev has many awards for his films. Zvyagintsev attracted attention with the commercials he shot. It should be noted that he created advertising without having a directing education.

Acting works

Directing works

Andrey Zvyagintsev grew up without a father. Mother Galina Aleksandrovna Zvyagintseva worked at the club as an organizer of children's creativity. The family lived very modestly. When Andrei got on his feet in Moscow, he moved his mother to the capital. The family is now renting out a two-room apartment in their native Novosibirsk.

Andrey Zvyagintsev never dreamed of becoming a director. Since childhood, he dreamed of the stage, of an acting career. When he saw it on the screen, he admits that something turned upside down inside him. He realized that he lacked education (at that time Andrei worked at the Novosibirsk Youth Theater). It was this “meeting” with Al Pacino that forced Andrei Zvyagintsev to leave the local theater, go to serve in the army, and then go to Moscow and enter GITIS. By the way, the director had the opportunity to thank his idol.

Moscow greeted the director harshly. For three years, Andrei Zvyagintsev had to work as a watchman, this gave him the right to live for free in the very center of the city, not far from the Mayakovsky Theater. Four students from the Faculty of Philosophy of Moscow State University lived with the future director. True, the joy was short-lived.

The most difficult times came when the apartment was taken away. I left my unprestigious job, but couldn’t find another one. “I was really starving, I couldn’t find a job, I went to all possible auditions and auditions, but I still didn’t even have money for a bus ticket,” said the director. A friend who at that time was creating commercials came to the rescue. Zvyagintsev joined him. Along the way, he also starred in episodic roles in the films “Shirley-myrli”, “Kitten”, “Reflection”, “Love to the grave”.

Directorial debut of Andrey Zvyagintsev

Andrey made his debut as a director on Ren TV. He made a film as part of a cycle called “The Black Room”. These were short stories “Choice”, “Bushido” and “Obscure”. About the film “Return” by Zvyagintsev In 2003, viewers were able to appreciate the full-length film by Zvyagintsev. He called it "The Return". As critics later noted, the plot develops slowly. The film has long close-ups and landscapes. This is unusual for modern cinema. However, the director said in an interview that this is how he feels the world, these are the rhythms of life that he feels. This is what Zvyagintsev sought to show the viewer, so that when sitting in front of the screen, people would feel that this is exactly how life flows. “Cinema in detail” about the film “Exile.” Critics and distributors in advance dubbed this film undistributable, believing that it would not be interesting to a general audience . However, in the first two weeks of release alone, two hundred and sixty thousand dollars were collected. The budget was less than half a million dollars.

The director is considered a phenomenon, since, having released his first full-length film, he received two Golden Lions for it and was nominated for an Oscar. Thirty-two countries purchased the film for distribution.

So “The Return” became the film sensation of the year. The director received twenty-eight awards for this film at world festivals. “The Return” was watched by viewers in seventy-three countries.

Film by Andrey Zvyagintsev “Exile”

Zvyagintsev made his next film in 2007. Its title is “Exile.” Critics again reacted favorably to the director's work. The film was recognized as the best film of the Russian program at the Moscow festival. Andrey Zvyagintsev - The Mystery [5ive Experiment] The main role was played by Konstantin Lavronenko. The actor received the Palme d'Or for this role in Cannes. This male role was recognized as the best by the film festival. It should be noted that Lavronenko also played in Zvyagintsev’s first film, “Return.”

In 2011, Zvyagintsev shot his third film. This is the social drama "Elena". The premiere took place at the Cannes Film Festival. The director received the Un Certain Regard prize. This directorial work was also awarded at the Sundance Film Festival.

Director Andrei Zvyagintsev is working on new films today. In 2014, the film “Leviathan” was released, which caused a great resonance in society, won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for an Oscar in the category “Best Foreign Film”. The main roles were played by Elena Lyadova, Alexey Serebryakov, Vladimir Vdovichenkov, Roman Madyanov and others.

This is a story about residents of a village beyond the Arctic Circle (filming took place in the village of Teriberka, Murmansk region). The main character is an auto mechanic who works honestly and raises his son from his first wife. At one point, his life breaks down: his wife cheats on him with his friend, his son accuses him of hating his late mother, and his house and land are encroached upon by a local bureaucrat, ready to fabricate a criminal case for the sake of a tidbit of real estate.

Still from Zvyagintsev’s film “Leviathan” After the premiere of “Leviathan”, the audience was divided into two camps. Someone accused the director of hating Russia, but the majority still agreed that Zvyagintsev only exposed Russian realities: thriving corruption, a declining province, the hopelessness and insignificance of the life of an ordinary citizen.

Awards and prizes

(incomplete list)

• For the film “The Return”: 2003 - “Golden Lion” of the Venice Film Festival
• 2003 - Venice Film Festival CinemAvvenire Award for Best Debut Film
• 2003 — European Film Academy Award “Felix” in the category “European Discovery of the Year”
• 2003 - Nika Award in the category “Best Feature Film” (together with Dmitry Lesnevsky)

Public acceptance

• 2006, 2011 — National Award of Public Recognition “Russian of the Year”[24]

Personal life of Andrey Zvyagintsev

The director was married to actress Irina Grineva for six years. Now Grineva is married again; her husband is figure skater Maxim Shabalin.

Irina Grineva, ex-wife of director Zvyagintsev. The director’s second wife is editor Anna Matveeva. In 2009, the couple had a son, Peter.

In the photo: Andrey Zvyagintsev and Anna Matveeva In September 2021, the media reported the Zvyagintsevs’ divorce. Since the director leads a secluded life, the information got to the press through third parties.

Personal life

Personal life is a separate page in the master’s biography, not inferior in intensity to cinematic passions. In his last year at theater school, Andrei met Vera Sergeeva, who served at the Old House theater. The common-law wife was 5 years older and gave her beloved two children. One of the twins died a week later. The second, Nikita, lives in Novosibirsk, graduated from a music college, owns his own business, and got married. He rarely sees his father, but the director, according to media reports, supports his son.

Vera Sergeeva and Inna Mishukova

In Moscow, Zvyagintsev’s heart was won by fellow GITIS student Inna. The girl did not graduate from university, but became a doctor. The young people got married in 1988, but separated on the initiative of his wife - Inna met someone else.

After the divorce, Andrei became interested in the model and future star of the television reality series “The Last Hero,” Inna Gomez, whom he directed in his debut directorial project, “The Black Room.”

Then the director lived with actress Irina Grineva for 6 years. After the divorce, the former spouses arranged their personal lives. Irina married figure skater Maxim Shabalin, and Zvyagintsev met Anna Matveeva, who in 2009 gave birth to his son Peter.

Irina Grineva and Anna Matveeva

Anna is a photographer and editor, a graduate of the Faculty of Economics of VGIK. What attracted the woman to her husband was a sense of freedom and a reluctance to make compromises in art. Matveeva admitted that after meeting Andrey she began to watch films in a new way - consciously, as if plunging into the narrative.

However, such a unity of views did not save the family from destruction. In September 2018, Zvyagintsev and Matveeva divorced, the child remained with his mother. At the Cannes Film Festival, held in May, Andrei appeared arm in arm with Léa Seydoux. The media were quick to comment on how the French actress looked at the Russian director. However, the journalists could have exaggerated, because the heroes of the first pages became members of the film screening jury.

Andrey Zvyagintsev and Léa Seydoux in 2021

Andrey Zvyagintsev is not a fan of social networks. I went to Instagram only once, not to look at photos, but to find out the audience’s reaction to “Loveless,” when critics and officials once again called the director’s film Russophobic. I made sure that people understood and accepted the film. Andrey is not ready to create a personal page yet.