Childhood and youth
Kirill Serebrennikov (this is his real name) was born on September 7, 1969 in Rostov-on-Don. His mother Irina Aleksandrovna Litvin worked as a teacher of Russian language and literature at school, his father Semyon Mikhailovich Serebrennikov was a surgeon, he is an associate professor of the Department of Urology at the Rostov Medical Institute. On his father’s side, Jewish blood flows in the director’s veins, and on his mother’s, Ukrainian blood flows, so it is difficult to accurately name Kirill’s nationality.
As Serebrennikov wrote, he is a hereditary cinematographer, because his grandfather graduated from VGIK, although he was an ordinary Ukrainian shepherd. Subsequently, Alexander Ivanovich Litvin became the director of documentaries at the Moldova-Film film studio.
Kirill attended a school with a physics and mathematics focus, where he was an excellent student, and in high school he was a Komsomol activist. Kirill staged his first performance on the school stage, his family fully supported him in his endeavors. The experiment was a success - the audience applauded. Later, the young director mastered the text of Evgeniy Schwartz’s play “Shadow,” the production of which also aroused interest among classmates and teachers.
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Kirill Serebrennikov in his youth
In 1987, the young man went to get an education - to enroll in the directing department in Moscow. But the course director, Anatoly Vasilyev, refused the applicant because Serebrennikov was 17 years old at the time. Then he entered the physics department of Rostov State University, studied easily and graduated from the university with honors.
Later, Kirill chose the theatrical path. There was no inspiration from above, he just organized a student theater at the university, staged plays as a director and realized that he got pleasure not from physics, but from creativity.
After university, Kirill decided to become a professional director. He started with Studio 69, which worked on the enthusiasm of its creators. In parallel with his theatrical experiences, he worked for Rostov television companies, filmed video clips, television plays, and commercials.
Biography
Kirill Semenovich Serebrennikov was born on September 7, 1969 in Rostov-on-Don. His father, Semyon worked as a surgeon at a local hospital. Mother was a teacher of Russian language and literature at school. During his school years, the guy was an active participant in social events. Serebrennikov danced, participated and even staged performances himself. Even then it was noticeable that his vision of the world was different from the usual one. In one of his school plays, the main character, instead of an economist, was a weaver who had lost both arms.
After graduating from school, Kirill was going to enroll in directing. However, the guy was dissuaded, advising him to study somewhere else in order to understand himself and finally decide on his choice. Thus, Kirill Semenovich entered the Russian State University at the Faculty of Physics. During my studies, my desire to become a director only strengthened. In his free time from studying, he visited the amateur studio “69”.
Personal life
Serebrennikov’s personal life is a closed topic that he does not cover even on social networks, including Instagram and Facebook. According to some media reports, the man is married, but nothing is known about his wife, and her photos do not appear on the Internet. We only know that she is the daughter of a Moscow theater director. Serebrennikov completely trusts his wife’s opinion. However, there is no official confirmation of this information.
Internet users often raise doubts about Kirill’s traditional sexual orientation, although they do not present any supporting facts. At the same time, they boldly call the director a representative of the gay theater lobby.
A man does not eat meat because he feels sorry for animals. In his free time from work, he enjoys doing yoga. Serebrennikov is also a shopaholic: he brings new clothes from every trip.
Kirill Serebrennikov: personal life
Many fans would like to know if the director’s heart is free. We inform them especially for them: for several years now he has been legally married to the woman he loves. The name, surname and occupation of his chosen one are not disclosed. It is only known that she is the daughter of one of the Moscow theater directors.
Kirill Semenovich is not thinking about heirs yet. He is a little suspicious of children. And the director is also afraid of such great responsibility.
Theater
Serebrennikov staged his debut performance in the professional theater at Engagement in 1990. Kirill collaborated with this theater for 5 years. The performances were received ambiguously. In 1995, local masters criticized “Little Tragedies” on the stage of the Rostov Drama Theater, leaving no stone unturned. Time passed, and many changed their minds - they are proud that they once worked with Kirill.
At one point, the director realized that he needed to move to Moscow. For two years after that he worked on television. Together with Alla Demidova he created the television project “Dark Alleys” for the “Culture” channel. After a while, he appeared on camera again, this time on the TV-3 channel in the author’s program “Another Cinema,” and then on STS he appeared as a TV host of the talk show “Details.”
The start of his career in the capital was given by the play “Plasticine”, which Kirill staged at the Central House of Artists by M. Roshchin and A. Kazantsev. None of the directors wanted to stage the play by Vasily Sigarev, a student of the Ural playwright Nikolai Kolyada. In one of his interviews, Serebrennikov said that after reading the play he realized that it needed to be played differently.
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Kirill Serebrennikov and Oleg Tabakov
He took a risk because no one in Moscow knew the author of “Plasticine”; the new Russian drama was not in fashion. The performance was not accepted for six months, journalists “teared” it to the media, and the audience left without watching it to the end. But at some point everything changed, and people went to the theater, their anger and criticism were replaced with mercy. Today “Plasticine” is called a cult production, a social breakthrough.
With growing interest in the performance, Serebrennikov’s recognition also grew. Oleg Tabakov invited him to his theater, where the director staged the performances “Terrorism”, “Bourgeois”, “Playing the Victim”, “The Threepenny Opera”.
In 2005, Sovremennik hosted the premiere of Kirill Serebrennikov’s production of “The Naked Pioneer,” based on the novel by Mikhail Kononov. The main role went to Chulpan Khamatova, the director called her a national treasure.
A year later, Kirill appeared in the studio of the “School of Scandal” program and told how each of his theatrical productions becomes an event, triumphant or scandalous.
Published by Gogol-Center / Gogol-Center Saturday, December 30, 2021
Kirill Serebrennikov at the Gogol Center Theater
In 2012, Kirill Semenovich became the artistic director of the Gogol Center, and in 2015 he headed this theater. His performances “Dead Souls”, “Idiots”, “Ordinary History” were performed on stage.
At the end of 2021, the premiere of Serebrennikov’s new production “Stalin’s Funeral” took place at the Gogol Center. Thus, the director recalled that on the day of farewell to the tyrant, which ended in a deadly stampede, the world said goodbye to another person - composer Sergei Prokofiev, to whom much fewer people came.
Kirill Serebrennikov is the winner of the prestigious theater awards “Chaika”, “Crystal Turandot”, named after. K. S. Stanislavsky. In 2008, the director was invited to join the teaching staff of the Moscow Art Theater School, where Kirill completed the course, graduates joined the troupe of the Seventh Studio, and then the main cast of the Gogol Center.
Just being a director and teacher is not enough for Serebrennikov. Together with colleagues Evgeny Mironov, Chulpan Khamatova, Teodor Currentzis and Roman Dolzhansky, he launched the “Territory” festival. In 2011, he founded the “Platform” project at the Winzavod Center for Contemporary Art.
Biography of Kirill Serebrennikov
Kirill was born into an intelligent family from Rostov-on-Don. Father, Semyon Mikhailovich, was a surgeon, and mother, Irina Aleksandrovna Litvin, taught Russian language and literature at school. Kirill went to the first grade of a physics and mathematics school, from a young age he actively participated in the social life of the class and even staged a play about the founder of Marxism, Friedrich Engels.
Serebrennikov applied to the physics department of Rostov State University, which after five years he graduated with honors. While studying at the university, he was a member of the Komsomol cell, which he disbanded with his own hands during perestroika, and was engaged in directing at the amateur studio “69”. The first performance he directed within its framework was based on the works of Kharms.
“It was some kind of funny disgrace. They poured kefir on the audience, and naked women walked around the stage,” the director recalled about this experience.
After graduation, Kirill continued to do what he loved, and over the next seven years he gained experience at the Rostov Academic Drama Theater. M. Gorky and the Academic Theater for Young Spectators.
In 2007, the restless Serebrennikov tried a new direction for himself - he became the host of the program “Another Cinema” on the TV-3 channel. For more than a month, the director also hosted the “Details” program on the STS channel.
In 2012, Serebrennikov’s new film “Betrayal” was released, which was included in the competitive film program of the Venice Festival. In the same year, Serebrennikov became artistic director of the Moscow Drama Theater. Gogol, and in 2015, after the announcement of the reformatting of the theater into the Gogol Center, he headed it.
In 2015, viewers of Bekmambetov’s action-packed film “Hardcore” could see Serebrennikov in the tiny role of a tank driver. The director sat in the tank all day, and as a gesture of goodwill, he did not take any fee for the work.
Movies
Serebrennikov came to cinema in 1998. In one year, the director presented three full-length films at once - “Undressed”, “Swallow” and “Secrets of the Thunderstorm”. Among Kirill’s film works from the initial period of his cinematic biography is the serial film “Rostov-Papa”, where Natalya Gundareva, Boris Shcherbakov, Sergei Nikonenko, Ingeborga Dapkunaite played.
In 2006, the director gave fans the painting “Playing the Victim.” At the Kinotavr and Festa del Cinema festivals, this film received the main prizes. It was created based on the play by the Presnyakov brothers. The main character Valya (Yuri Chursin), after graduating from university, gets a job in the police as a person portraying crime victims during investigative experiments. But at the end of the story, Valya himself becomes a criminal.
Today is the birthday of my close friend, a talented director, a very generous and honest person, Kirill...
Published by Chulpan Khamatova / Wednesday, September 6, 2021
Kirill Serebrennikov and Chulpan Khamatova
In 2008, Kirill shot the film “St. George’s Day,” which collected a harvest of prizes at Western film festivals, but did not receive a single local film award. In Russia, there was almost no talk about this project until the director was invited to the scandalous show “Closed Screening”. The main character of the story, the popular opera singer Lyubov (Ksenia Rappoport), travels with her son Andrei (Roman Shmakov) to her small homeland. While visiting the museum, the son disappears forever.
Among the director’s works is a film novella from the film “Short Circuit”, in the creation of which directors Pyotr Buslov, Ivan Vyrypaev, Alexey German Jr. and Boris Khlebnikov also participated.
Serebrennikov’s notable directorial work is the film “Betrayal,” in which actors from Germany, Macedonia and Russia starred. Another of his works is the film “The Apprentice,” filmed in 2021. The film received an award at Kinotavr and the Cannes Film Festival. In the same year, Serebrennikov’s second acting experience in cinema took place. The director starred with his colleague Ilya Naishuller in the action movie “Hardcore”, where he played a tank driver.
Born on September 7, 1969 in the city of Rostov-on-Don in the family of a surgeon and a Russian language teacher. Kirill graduated from high school with a gold medal. Even then, in the tenth grade, being an active Komsomol member, he staged his first play - about Engels. Then the young man entered the Faculty of Physics at Rostov State University, which he graduated with honors in 1992. During his studies, he finally became interested in directing, first studying at the amateur studio “69”, and since 1990 he has been working on the professional stage. Over the next seven years, Serebrennikov staged ten performances in various theaters in Rostov-on-Don. His works were recognized as the best productions of the season and received numerous festival prizes.
During the same period, Kirill made his debut on television. In 1991, he began collaborating with television, then moved to the Don-TR State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company. His career was actively developing: he made two documentaries and a musical film, about a hundred commercials, a dozen video clips, and worked on three multi-part projects. A little later, in 1998, Serebrennikov became interested in big cinema and soon moved to Moscow. In 2001, he staged the play “Plasticine” and since then has been a frequent guest in theaters in both capitals. Among his creations are “The Demon”, “The Bourgeois”, “The Forest”, “The Golovlevs”, “The Naked Pioneer”, “Figaro. Events of one day", "Kizhe" and "Near Zero". Serebrennikov's productions have been nominated for the Golden Mask award more than once.
The director's first notable film work was the series "Rostov-Papa", then the films "Bed Scenes" (2003), "Ragin" (2004), "Playing the Victim" (2006) and "St. George's Day" (2008), which were awarded Russian awards, were released. and international film festivals. In addition, in 2007, Serebrennikov hosted the program “Another Cinema” on the TV-3 channel, and since 2008 he has taught at the Moscow Art Theater School. Kirill is also one of the organizers and art directors of the “Territory” festival of contemporary art. The last film, “Betrayal” (2012), was included in the competition program of the Venice Film Festival. In the same year, Serebrennikov became artistic director of the Moscow Drama Theater. Gogol.
In his free time, the director loves to travel. This is how he describes one of his brightest impressions: “I boarded a plane from France, from Nice, flew to Ulaanbaatar, and then my friend and I were thrown into the Gobi Desert, and we wandered around for a week, living in yurts. And I have never been happier. I understood what emptiness is, what 16 levels of emptiness are, and eternity in general.”
Criminal case
In 2021, a criminal case was opened against the director, in which he was accused of embezzling public funds allocated for Seventh Studio projects. This scandal became known at the end of May, when searches began in Serebrennikov’s apartment in Moscow and in the Gogol Center. At first, the director was involved in the case as a witness; after the arrest of the accountant and a number of theater managers, charges were brought against Kirill that it was he who stole money.
The director was placed under house arrest. Colleagues stood up for the master, including Russian artists Chulpan Khamatova, Vladimir Urin, Evgeny Mironov, Sergei Yursky and foreign actors Cate Blanchett, Nina Hoss, Simon McBurney, Sophie Calle.
Without Serebrennikov’s participation, the premiere of the play “Nureyev” took place at the Bolshoi Theater, and in “Gogol” based on Alexander Pushkin. For the latter, Serebrennikov received the Golden Mask. In February 2021, the director suffered a great loss - his mother died in Rostov. The man was released from custody for the duration of the funeral.
Trailer for Kirill Serebrennikov’s film “Betrayal”
Then it became known that the director’s latest film, “Summer,” about the life and work of Viktor Tsoi, was included in the competition program of the Cannes Film Festival. He edited the drama while he was already under house arrest. The main roles in the film were played by Theo Yu, Roman Bilyk, Irina Starshenbaum.
He released the play “Baroque” while at home in December 2018. And in the fall, he presented the first production of the Mobile Art Theater, “1000 Steps with Kirill Serebrennikov,” which allowed fans of creativity to live for an hour and a half the life of a director under house arrest.
During this period, more than one trial was held, examinations were ordered in the case of the theft of 133 million rubles, and Serebrennikov’s speeches at the meetings were published on the website of the Ekho Moskvy radio. Kirill called the accusations brought against himself a farce, absurdity and lawlessness.
Trailer for Kirill Serebrennikov’s film “Summer”
Although representatives of the investigation argued that Kirill could hide from law enforcement agencies or put pressure on witnesses, the court decided to lift his house arrest and refused to take a recognizance not to leave the place from the director.
As soon as the house arrest was lifted, he returned to his native Gogol Center and immediately began work. In the spring of 2021, a gala evening was held there in honor of Alla Pugacheva’s 70th birthday. In addition to the birthday girl, his guests of honor were Kristina Orbakaite, Kirill Serebrennikov, Nadezhda Mikhalkova and many others.
In September of the same year, Kirill received an invitation to the GQ Awards, winning the “Person of the Year” category. Like Yuri Dud, when he was presented with the statuette, he spoke negatively about the current government, for which he was criticized by the news anchors of the Rossiya 24 channel. However, commentators supported the winners, leaving comments under the video that they completely agreed with those who spoke out.
In 2021, it became known that Serebrennikov had closed the Seventh Studio: all income ceased after the criminal case.
Court
The trial in the case of Kirill Serebrennikov took place on June 26, 2021. Yulia Peresild, Vlad Lisovets, Yulia Parshuta, Dmitry Bykov, Mark Tishman, Oksimiron, Roma Zver and many other stars came to support the defendants in the case. According to some media estimates, about 400 people gathered near the courthouse that day.
Serebrennikov was sentenced to 3 years probation and 3 years probation. During this time he is prohibited from changing his place of residence. In addition, the director must pay a fine of 800 thousand rubles. Another fine - 129,000,000 rubles at the request of the Ministry of Culture - was common to Kirill, as well as Yuri Itin and Alexei Malobrodsky. The fourth defendant, Sofya Apfelbaum, was also fined, but the court released her from paying the amount due to the expiration of the statute of limitations.
It is known that earlier Roman Abramovich and Alexander Mamut said that they intended to help Serebrennikov and the rest of the defendants in this trial pay fines.
Kirill Serebrennikov now
Despite the fact that Serebrennikov was under investigation for a long time, he continued to work at the Gogol Center, regularly delighting fans with new projects. The only thing that prevented him from implementing some of his plans was the coronavirus pandemic, which swept the whole world at the beginning of 2020. The man even managed to release a new film called “Petrovs in the Flu.”
Nevertheless, Serebrennikov did not despair and even during self-isolation he found something to do. The director compiled a list of 10 tips for staying at home during quarantine and decided to share his experience with subscribers.
And in February 2021, it became known that Kirill was leaving the post of artistic director of the Gogol Center: his contract had expired. Actor Alexey Agranovich became the new artistic director.
Films by Kirill Serebrennikov
Until 1998, he was involved in theatrical productions. At some point, he wanted to contribute to the development of the domestic film industry. In 1998, he presented three full-length films to the audience: “Undressed,” “Secrets of the Thunderstorm” and “Swallow.” In a short time, he managed to acquire his own army of fans.
Between 2001 and 2004, 4 more of his works were published. Among them are two TV series and two films.
Serebrennikov’s real success came from the film “Playing the Victim.” She was highly praised by jury members at the Russian Kinotavr and at the Italian festival Festa del Cinema. This film is a comedy generously seasoned with black humor.
It is impossible not to note another major work by Kirill Semenovich Serebrennikov. We are talking about his film “Betrayal”. The director cast such foreign artists as Dejan Lilic (Macedonia) and Franziska Petri (Germany) in the leading roles. The ex-soloist of the group “VIA Gra” Albina Dzhanabaeva also took part in the filming of the film.
