Mikheil Kalatozov

Mikheil Kalatozov (Kalatozishvili) (1903-1973), Film director, People’s Artiste of the USSR (1969), born in Tbilisi. He was engaged in film making in Georgia as of 1923. From 1928 he began directing movies. In 1937, M. Kalatozov enrolled in the post-graduate courses of the Academy of Arts in Leningrad. After he graduated from the post-graduate courses, he headed the Tbilisi Films’ Studio for a short while, until he transferred to the ‘Lenfilm’ Studio in Leningrad. There he directed The Courage (1939) and Valeri Chkalov (1941). From 1943, M. Kalatozov was working at the ‘Mosfilm’ Studio in Moscow. In 1944-46, he was in charge of the Main Committee of Cinematography; in 1946-48, he held the position of Deputy Minister of Cinematography of the USSR. In 1951, he was awarded the State Prize of the USSR for the film The Conspiracy of the Doomed (1950). In 1954, he directed the film The Faithful Friends. M. Kalatozov’s film The Cranes Are Flying won the worldwide recognition (Golden Palm at the 11th Cannes Film Festival, 1958). M. Kalatozov’s last film was the joint project of the USSR and Italy - The Red Tent - directed in 1970 (The State Prize of the USSR, 1971). The movie was based on the materials of the

North Pole expedition of U. Nobile. Mikheil Kalatozov died in Moscow.