Andrei Smirnov (actor)

Andrei Sergeevich Smirnov was born on 12 March 1941 in Moscow to the family of writer Sergei Smirnov - author of books about the defenders of the Brest Fortress.

When the young man studied in the seventh grade, the family moved to Maryina roshcha District, where Andrei continued his studies in a special French school.

After finishing school, he was accepted at the directing department of VGIK, Mikhail Romm's workshop. He graduated in 1962.

As a director, he made his debut with the war film The Land of the Earth (1964, together with Boris Yashin) based on the story of the same name by Grigory Baklanov.

Andrei Smirnov's first great success came when he directed the 1971 drama film Belorussian Station, which showed the psychological atmosphere of events closely intertwined with the memory of the Great Patriotic War.

In his next film, Autumn (1974), he turned to the theme of love, with an unusual for that time boldness about the relationship between the thirty-year-old man and woman.

After the film Faith and Truth (1979), devoted to different stages of the construction of Moscow, Smirnov decided to leave the filmmaking. The reason was the criticism of various authorities and dissatisfaction with his own work.

Smirnov began to work mainly as a screenwriter and playwright. His play My Own in 1985 was staged by the Moscow Satire Theatre.

He wrote screenplays for the films Sentimental Journey to Potatoes (1986), I Did Everything I Could (1986), and also the episodes The Medicine of Fear in the second season of television series Beyond the Wolves (2004).

In the 1990s, Smirnov staged television performances, television concerts, and theater productions. Among them - Dinner in the Moscow Art Theatre - Theater-Studio O. Tabakov (1994), A Month in the Country in Comédie-Française (1997).

In 2011, he returned to filmmaking and made a national drama Once Upon a Time There Lived a Simple Woman, acting simultaneously as a screenwriter and producer. The picture was recognized as the best film of the year according to the Russian cinema award Nika. It also received four more Nika prizes - for the best script work, best female role, best supporting actor and for the best work of the costume designer.

Andrei Smirnov as an actor starred in a number of notable roles. Among his works - the main roles in the films Chernov (1990) by Sergei Yursky, His Wife's Diary (2000) by Alexei Uchitel, Fathers and Sons (2008) by Avdotya Smirnova and Elena (2011) by Andrey Zvyagintsev. Smirnov also starred in the series The Right to Defense (2002), The Idiot (2003), The Instructor (2003), Moscow Saga (2004), The First Circle (2006), The Apostle (2008) ), Heavy Sand (2008), Churchill (2009), The Thaw (2013), Black Cats (2013), etc.

Andrei Smirnov was engaged in public activities. In 1988-1990, he was Acting First Secretary of the Union of Cinematographers of the USSR.

Between 1987-1995 he was the artistic director of the studio "Debut".

He taught at the High Courses for Scriptwriters and Film Directors.

• His Wife's Diary (2000)
• The Idiot (TV, 2003)
• Elena (2011)
• Two Days (2011)
• The Thaw (TV, 2013)
• Moscow Saga (TV, 2014)

• Belorussian station (1970)
• Autumn (1974)
• Once Upon a Time There Lived a Simple Woman (2011)
• A Frenchman (2019)