Igor Fyodorovich Maslennikov (russian: Игорь Фёдорович Масленников; 26 October 1931 – 17 September 2022)
was a Soviet and Russian film director.

Biography

Maslennikov was born in

Nizhny Novgorod Nizhny Novgorod ( ; rus, links=no, Нижний Новгород, a=Ru-Nizhny Novgorod.ogg, p=ˈnʲiʐnʲɪj ˈnovɡərət ), colloquially shortened to Nizhny, from the 13th to the 17th century Novgorod of the Lower Land, formerly known as Gork ...

. In 1954 he completed his education in the department of journalism of the

Leningrad University Saint Petersburg State University (SPBU; russian: Санкт-Петербургский государственный университет) is a public research university in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Founded in 1724 by a decree of Peter the G ...

and worked as an editor, script writer, and cameraman on

Leningrad Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

television. In 1965 he entered the Higher Directors' Courses of Lenfilm ( Grigori Kozintsev's workshop), at end of which he became the director of this motion picture studio. In the cinema, Maslennikov made his debut at the end of the 1960s with a film about a senior pupil: the ''Personal Life of Kuzyaev Valentin''. He directed children's films (''Tomorrow'' and ''3 April''), movies about sports (''Racers''), historical costume-dramas (''Yaroslavna, the Queen of France''). He worked on the joint Soviet-Norwegian picture ''

Under a Stone Sky ''Under en steinhimmel'' (Under a Stone Sky; russian: Под каменным небом) is a Norwegian war film directed by Knut Andersen, Igor Maslennikov, and Stanislav Rostotsky. The film is a fictionalized portrayal of historical events. ...

'', which narrates the sad events which occurred in one of the Norwegian towns during the Nazi occupation. He filmed

Vera Panova Vera Fyodorovna Panova (russian: Вера Фёдоровна Панова; – March 3, 1973) was a Soviet novelist, playwright, and journalist. She was a recipient of the Stalin Prize in 1947, 1948, and 1950. Early life Vera was born into the f ...

's autobiographical ''Sentimental novel''. Enormous success came to Maslennikov when he directed a cycle of films about Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson. The successful selection of the actors, among whom there were

Vasily Livanov Vasily Borisovich Livanov (russian: link=no, Василий Борисович Ливанов; born 19 July 1935), MBE, is a Soviet and Russian film actor, animation and film director, screenwriter and writer most famous for portraying Sherlock ...

Vitaly Solomin Vitaly Mefodievich Solomin (russian: link=no, Виталий Мефодьевич Соломин; 12 December 194127 May 2002) was a Soviet and Russian actor, director and screenwriter, best remembered for playing Dr. Watson in a series of Sherloc ...

Boryslav Brondukov Boryslav Mykolayovych Brondukov ( uk, Борислáв Миколáйович Брондукóв; russian: Борислав Николаевич Брондуков; 1 March 1938 – 10 March 2004) was a Ukrainian film character actor, People's ...

Rina Zelyonaya Ekaterina Vasilyevna Zelyonaya (russian: link=no, Екатерина Васильевна Зелёная); ( — 1 April 1991, Moscow), better known by her stage name Rina Zelyonaya, was a Soviet actress, singer and comedian. She was named Peopl ...

Nikita Mikhalkov Nikita Sergeyevich Mikhalkov (russian: Никита Сергеевич Михалков; born 21 October 1945) is a Soviet and Russian filmmaker, actor, and head of the Russian Cinematographers' Union. Mikhalkov is a three-time laureate of the ...

and the outstanding talent of the director ensured audience's love of the film. In 1985 Maslennikov presented the melodrama ''

Winter Cherry ''Winter Cherry'' (russian: Зимняя вишня, Zimnyaya vishnya) is a 1985 romantic comedy directed by Igor Maslennikov. Plot The main character of the film is Olga (Yelena Safonova), a beautiful intelligent 30-year-old woman, resident o ...

''. The movie became one of the greatest

blockbuster Blockbuster or Block Buster may refer to: *Blockbuster (entertainment) a term coined for an extremely successful movie, from which most other uses are derived. Corporations * Blockbuster (retailer), a defunct video and game rental chain ** Bl ...

s of the decade and gained

Yelena Safonova Yelena Vsevolodovna Safonova (russian: Еле́на Все́володовна Сафо́нова; born 14 June 1956 in Leningrad) is a former Soviet and a Russian actress. She is an Honored Artist of Russia (2011). She was made famous by the 198 ...

a wide reputation. The special feature of this everyday melodrama was that for the first time the spectator saw on the screen a strong but misunderstood woman played by Safonova. The popularity of this film inspired Maslennikov to create

sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...

s in 1990 and 1995 and the same-name TV-series in 1997. In 1989 Maslennikov filmed the television adventure picture ''Philipp Traum'', based on the unfinished Mark Twain novel ''

The Mysterious Stranger ''The Mysterious Stranger'' is a novel attempted by the American author Mark Twain. He worked on it intermittently from 1897 through 1908. Twain wrote multiple versions of the story; each involves a supernatural character called "Satan" or "No. ...

''. The cinema version was named ''Chronicle of Satan Jr.''. He made a co-production with French partners, filming the story of

Leonid Andreyev Leonid Nikolaievich Andreyev (russian: Леони́д Никола́евич Андре́ев, – 12 September 1919) was a Russian playwright, novelist and short-story writer, who is considered to be a father of Expressionism in Russian liter ...

(''The Dark''), where the main roles were played by

Oleg Yankovsky Oleg Ivanovich Yankovsky (russian: Оле́г Ива́нович Янко́вский; 23 February 1944 – 20 May 2009) was a Soviet and Russian actor who excelled in psychologically sophisticated roles of modern intellectuals. In 1991, he beca ...

and Kseniya Kachalina. Maslennikov became

People's Artist of the RSFSR People's Artist of the RSFSR (russian: Народный артист РСФСР, ''Narodnyj artist RSFSR'') was an honorary title granted to Soviet Union artists, including theatre and film directors, choreographers, music performers, and orchest ...

in 1988. In 2001 he received the State Prize of the Russian Federation. The year 2000 saw the release of the 10 series of ''Chto skazal pokoynik (What Has the Deceased Said)'' (2000) after the popular Polish writer Ioanna Khmelevskaya, and start of the filming of Vospominaniya o Sherloke Kholmse (''The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes''), which united all the five famous Sherlock Holmes films with a single plotline. In 2001 he was a member of the jury at the

23rd Moscow International Film Festival The 23rd Moscow International Film Festival was held from 21 to 30 June 2001. The Golden St. George was awarded to the American film '' The Believer'' directed by Henry Bean. Jury * Margarethe von Trotta (Germany – President of the Jury) * Jia ...

. By his 75th birthday in 2006 Igor Maslennikov finished his book of memoirs under the title ''The Baker Street in Petrogradskaya''.

Filmography

* ''Timur and His Commando'', 2004 * ''Letters to Elsa'', 2002: the Golden Peacock of the

India International Film Festival The International Film Festival of India (IFFI), founded in 1952, is one of the most significant film festivals in Asia. Held annually, currently in the state of Goa, on the western coast of the country, the festival aims at providing a common pl ...

* ''Memories of Sherlock Holmes'' (TV series), 2000 * ''What the Dead Man Said'' (TV series), 1999 * ''Chekhonte Theater'', 1996 * ''Winter Cherry'' (TV series), 1995 * ''Winter Cherry 3'', 1995 * ''Darkness'', 1991 * ''Winter Cherry 2'', 1990 * ''Philip Traum'' (TV movie), 1989 * ''Genus Extension'', 1988 * '' Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson: The Twentieth Century Approaches'' (''Приключения Шерлока Холмса и доктора Ватсона. Двадцатый век начинается'', 1986) * ''

'', 1985 * '' The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson: The Treasures of Agra'' (''Приключения Шерлока Холмса и доктора Ватсона. Сокровища Агры''), 1983 * '' The Queen of Spades'' (''Пиковая дама'', 1982) * '' Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson: The Hound of the Baskervilles'' (''Приключения Шерлока Холмса и доктора Ватсона. Собака Баскервилей'', 1981 * '' The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson'' (''Приключения Шерлока Холмса и доктора Ватсона''), 1980 * ''

Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson ''Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson'' (russian: link=no, italics=yes, Шерлок Холмс и доктор Ватсон) is a 1979 Soviet film adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle's novels about Sherlock Holmes. Directed by Igor Maslennikov, it is th ...

'' (''Шерлок Холмс и доктор Ватсон''), 1979 * ''Yaroslavna, Queen of France'', 1978 * ''

Sentimentalnyy roman ''Sentimental Romance'' (russian: Сентиментальный роман, Sentimentalny roman) is a 1976 Soviet romantic drama directed by Igor Maslennikov. It was entered into the 27th Berlin International Film Festival. Plot The film is s ...

'', 1976 * ''Under the Stone Sky'', 1974 * ''Racers'', 1972 * ''Summer in Berezhki'', 1970 * '' Tomorrow, on April 3rd...'' (''Завтра, третьего апреля''), 1969 * '' Private Life of Kuzyayev Valentin'' (''Личная жизнь Кузяева Валентина''), 1967

References

External links

Biography
*

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Maslennikov, Igor 1931 births 2022 deaths Soviet film directors Academicians of the National Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences of Russia Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography faculty Russian film directors People from Nizhny Novgorod Recipients of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 4th class Recipients of the Order of Honour (Russia) People's Artists of Russia People's Artists of the RSFSR