Alexander Zeldovich is one of the conceptual and most intelligent domestic filmmakers, who makes films rarely, almost once a decade, but accurately.
Education and film debut
Russian screenwriter, film director Alexander Zeldovich brilliantly graduated from a mathematical school (his fellow students were Lev Evzovich and Boris Yukhananov), he entered the Faculty of Psychology at Moscow State University. The practice took place in medical hospitals Belokamennoy.
Since 1982, he attended the Higher Courses for Scriptwriters and Directors. His mentors at that time were Gleb Panfilov and Alexander Mitta. Leaving the passion for psychology in the past, the future visionary has been working as the director of the Mosfilm film studio since 1986, while simultaneously teaching at the Higher Directing Courses at the Moscow Institute of Modern Art.
Zeldovich’s directorial debut in feature films took place in 1990. His painting “Sunset” (IMDb: 6.70), which premiered at the IFF in Berlin, was praised by critics. In fact, the film is an author’s fantasy based on the works of Isaac Babel.
Of the three screen versions of Odesa Babel's Tales shot one after the other almost synchronously, Sunset, according to the recognition of filmmakers of all stripes, turned out to be the most unusual.
Mannered Drama
Zeldovich Alexander is a director who releases films quite rarely. After a triumphant debut, the next director's tape was released only in 2000.
The script for the film “Moscow” (IMDb: 6.50) was written by the director in collaboration with the cult writer Vladimir Sorokin back in 1995. Mannered drama was positioned by domestic critics as the result of a decade, became an event in Russian cinema.
Her premiere took place at the IFF in Venice. The film depicted grotesquely and picturesquely the world of the metropolitan elite, which became the main character and hostage to the complex process of privatization of the 90s.
However, the film was not about the denationalization of property, but about the modification of ideals and feelings.
Three years later, Alexander Zeldovich staged the play "Othello", making his debut as a theater director.
The first Russian futuristic drama
In 2011, Alexander Zeldovich, whose films are released once a decade, having united for the second time in a creative tandem with Vladimir Sorokin, shoots the movie The Target (IMDb: 5.90).
The world premiere of the fantastic drama took place at the IFF in Berlin and received in three categories the national award for film critics and film presses “The White Elephant”. It was one of the few modern films that was eagerly awaited by a wide audience (expectation: 91%).
Of course, interest fueled the synopsis that preceded the premiere, which clearly indicated the non-triviality of the tape. Many domestic filmmakers got the impression that Alexander Zeldovich took on a special audit function - to check the cultural balance of the Fatherland over the past decade.
In any case, The Target is twice the first: this is the first Russian futuristic drama and the first tape in the practically unoccupied niche of intelligible Russian (art) mainstream.