Gennadi Kazansky (1 December 1910 – 14 September 1983) was a Soviet

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...

of the

Soviet era The history of Soviet Russia and the Soviet Union (USSR) reflects a period of change for both Russia and the world. Though the terms "Soviet Russia" and "Soviet Union" often are synonymous in everyday speech (either acknowledging the dominance ...

.Goble p.355

Life and career

Gennadi Kazansky was born on 18 November 18 or December 1910 in

Voronezh Voronezh ( rus, links=no, Воро́неж, p=vɐˈronʲɪʂ}) is a city and the administrative centre of Voronezh Oblast in southwestern Russia straddling the Voronezh River, located from where it flows into the Don River. The city sits on the ...

. He studied art history at the Leningrad Institute of Art History and graduated in 1930. He was an associate professor of the practice of cinematic arts at the

Russian State Institute of Performing Arts The Russian State Institute of Performing Arts (russian: Российский государственный институт сценических искусств), formerly known as St Petersburg Theatre Arts Academy, formerly Leningrad State ...

. His film career began in 1931. He worked at the film studio

Lenfilm Lenfilm (russian: link=no, Ленфильм) is a Russian production company with its own film studio located in Saint Petersburg (the city was called Leningrad from 1924 to 1991, thus the name). It is a corporation with its stakes shared betwee ...

, first as an assistant director, and since 1937 as a director. During the

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

, along with other employees of Lenfilm and

Mosfilm Mosfilm (russian: Мосфильм, ''Mosfil’m'' ) is a film studio which is among the largest and oldest in the Russian Federation and in Europe. Founded in 1924 in the USSR as a production unit of that nation's film monopoly, its output incl ...

, he was evacuated to

Almaty Almaty (; kk, Алматы; ), formerly known as Alma-Ata ( kk, Алма-Ата), is the List of most populous cities in Kazakhstan, largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population of about 2 million. It was the capital of Kazakhstan from 1929 to ...

, where he worked at the film studio

Kazakhfilm Kazakhfilm ( kk, Қазақфильм, ''Qazaqfilm'', pronounced ; russian: Казахфильм) is a Kazakh film studio located in Almaty, Kazakhstan. History The film studio was founded in 1934 as the Alma-Ata newsreel studio, in 1936 the fi ...

, then at Mosfilm. In 1944 he returned to Leningrad and continued to work at Lenfilm. From 1946 to 1947 he was an employee of the Ashkhabad Film Studio, then again returned to Lenfilm, where he worked for the rest of his life. In 1956 he staged a children's film ''Old Khottabych'' based on the fairy tale by

Lazar Lagin Lazar Iosifovich Lagin (russian: Ла́зарь Ио́сифович Лагин), real name Lazar Ginzburg (4 December 1903, Vitebsk – 4 June 1979, Moscow), was a Soviet and Russian author of children's and science fiction books. Lagin is be ...

, which won a number of prizes at international festivals. The film ''Amphibian Man'', codirected with

Vladimir Chebotaryov Vladimir Aleksandrovich Chebotaryov (russian: Влади́мир Чеботарёв) (16 August 1921 – 4 March 2010) was a Soviet and Russian film director and screenwriter. Honored Artist of the Russian Federation (1994). Early years Vladimir ...

, became the leader of Soviet distribution in 1962 (65.5 million viewers). It is little-known in the West, but has become a cult classic in Soviet Union. Gennadi Kazansky died on September 14, 1983. He was buried at the

Bogoslovskoe Cemetery Bogoslovskoe Cemetery (russian: Богословское кладбище) is a cemetery in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is located in the Kalininsky District of the city between and . The name comes from the church of John the Apostle, (russi ...

in Leningrad.

Selected filmography

* ''

Rimsky-Korsakov Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov . At the time, his name was spelled Николай Андреевичъ Римскій-Корсаковъ. la, Nicolaus Andreae filius Rimskij-Korsakov. The composer romanized his name as ''Nicolas Rimsk ...

'' (1952) * ''

An Ardent Heart ''An Ardent Heart'' (russian: Горячее сердце, translit=Goryacheye serdtse; also translated as ''Burning Heart'') is a play by Alexander Ostrovsky written in 1858 and first published in the January 1869 issue of ''Otechestvennye Zapis ...

'' (1953) * ''

Old Khottabych ''Starik Khottabych'' (russian: Старик Хоттабыч, ''Old Man Khottabych'' or ''Old Khottabych'') is a Sovcolor Soviet fantasy film produced in the USSR by Goskino at Kinostudyia Lenfilm (Lenfilm Studio) in 1956, based on a children's ...

'' (1956) * ''

Amphibian Man ''Amphibian Man'' (rus. Человек-амфибия) is a science fiction adventure novel by the Soviet Russian writer Alexander Beliaev. It was published in 1928. Plot Argentinean doctor Salvator, a scientist and a maverick surgeon, giv ...

'' (1962) * ''

The Snow Queen "The Snow Queen" ( da, Snedronningen) is an original fairy tale by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. It was first published 21 December 1844 in '' New Fairy Tales. First Volume. Second Collection'' (''Nye Eventyr. Første Bind. Anden Samli ...

'' (1966) * '' New Year Adventures of Masha and Vitya'' (1975)

References

Bibliography

* Goble, Alan. ''The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film''. Walter de Gruyter, 1999.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kazansky, Gennadi 1910 births 1983 deaths Writers from Voronezh Soviet screenwriters Soviet film directors Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Burials at Bogoslovskoe Cemetery