Viktor Ivanovich Merezhko (russian: Виктор Иванович Мережко; 28 July 1937 – 30 January 2022) was a Soviet and Russian screenwriter, filmmaker, playwright, actor, writer, and television presenter. He was awarded the honorary title

People's Artist of the Russian Federation People's Artist of the Russian Federation (russian: Наро́дный худо́жник Росси́йской Федера́ции). The honorary title "People's Artist of the Russian Federation" is given no earlier than five years after the h ...

in 2014.

Life and career

In 1952, together with his family, he moved to the village of Russkaya Polyana near the city of Cherkasy (Ukraine). He learned Ukrainian language and graduated from the Ukrainian school. He tried to enter the

Kyiv Polytechnic Institute ) , image = NTUU KPI logo.png , image_size = 220px , caption = Seal of the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute , established = 1898 , students = 36,000 (approximately) , admini ...

at the Faculty of Cinematographers, but he could not stand the entrance exams. For a year, he worked in the woods of a woodcutter, then went to work in

Arkhangelsk Arkhangelsk (, ; rus, Арха́нгельск, p=ɐrˈxanɡʲɪlʲsk), also known in English as Archangel and Archangelsk, is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies o ...

. In 1956 he went to Lviv, where he entered and graduated from

Ukrainian Academy of Printing The Ukrainian Academy of Printing is a Ukrainian academy in Lviv. Post address: Lviv, Pidholosko st., 19, 79020, Ukraine History Specialist’s training for printing branch in Ukraine started in 1930 in the School of Printing Art founded by Ste ...

. In 1963 he sent his work to the contest in Moscow. In 1964-1968 he studied at

VGIK The Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography (russian: Всероссийский государственный институт кинематографии имени С. А. Герасимова, meaning ''All-Russian State Institute of Cinemat ...

(Alexey Speshnev's workshop, then Ilya Vaysfeld). Already in the second year of the VGIK the script of Viktor was shot by his first short film. According to Viktor Merezhko's scripts, 50 films and 12 animated films were shot, among them such famous films as ''

Family Relations ''Family Relations'' (russian: Родня, Rodnya) is a 1981 Soviet drama film directed by Nikita Mikhalkov. Plot A rural woman Mariya Konovalova (Nonna Mordyukova) goes to the regional center to visit her daughter Nina (Svetlana Kryuchkova), an ...

'', '' Flights in Dreams and Reality'', ''You are waited by Citizen Nikanorova'', ''A Lonely Woman Wants to Meet'', ''

Assia and the Hen with the Golden Eggs ''Asya and the Hen with the Golden Eggs'', or ''Ryaba, My Chicken'' (russian: Курочка Ряба, translit. Kurochka Ryaba) is a 1994 Russian comedy film directed by Andrei Konchalovsky. It was entered into the 1994 Cannes Film Festiv ...

''. He is known as a playwright. In 1989-1994, Merezhko led the popularity in the USSR program ''

Kinopanorama Kinopanorama is a three-lens, three-film widescreen film format. Although Kinopanorama was initially known as ''Panorama'' (russian: панорамный фильм, ''panoramnyy film'') in the Soviet Union the name was later revised to include it ...

''. Since 1994 to 2002 he was the host of the program ''My Cinem''a of TV channel TV-6 Moscow.Виктор Мережко сайт persons.ru
24 September 2008 He was Secretary of

Union of Cinematographers of the Russian Federation The Union of Cinematographers of the Russian Federation ( ru , Союз кинематографистов России) is the trade union of cinematographers, actors, and other professionals of Russian cinema. Founded in 1991, it was preceded b ...

, Member of the Writers' Union of Russia, Honored Artist of the RSFSR (1988). From the very first of his works as screenwriter, Viktor Merezhko has indicated his interest in the moral problems of modern society. In his works, the relationship of the characters and their social conflict determine the plot of the films.Энциклопедический словарь Кино. СЭ 1986. Москва. стр 265 Merezhko died from

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

complications in Moscow on 30 January 2022, at the age of 84.

References

External links

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Виктор Мережко на сайте МережКино
{{DEFAULTSORT:Merezhko, Viktor 1937 births 2022 deaths People from Azovsky District Soviet dramatists and playwrights Russian dramatists and playwrights Soviet screenwriters 20th-century Russian screenwriters Male screenwriters 20th-century Russian male writers Russian film directors Soviet television presenters Russian television presenters Recipients of the USSR State Prize People's Artists of Russia Russian activists Academicians of the National Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences of Russia Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography alumni Ukrainian Academy of Printing alumni Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Russia