Vitaly Melnikov (film Director)
Vitaly Vyacheslavovich Melnikov (russian: Виталий Вячеславович Мельников; 1 May 1928 – 21 March 2022) was a Soviet and Russian film director and screenwriter. He was named People's Artist of the RSFSR in 1987 and awarded Order of Honour in 2002 and IV Class Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" in 2010.Cinema: Encyclopedic Dictionary // ed. Sergei Yutkevich. — Moscow: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1987, p. 265 He was also a member of the Russian Academy of Cinema Arts and Sciences and was awarded the special Nika Award in 2016 "For outstanding contribution to national cinema". Biography Vitaly Melnikov was born at the maternity hospital of the Svobodny town (modern-day Svobodny, Amur Oblast of Russia), although his birth place was written down as Mazanovo village where his parents lived at the moment.