Kulidzhanov Lev

Kulidzhanov  Lev (1924–2002), Russian film director. People’s Artist of the USSR (1976). Born in Tbilisi. His parents fell victim to the Soviet repressions of 1937 and his grandmother brought him up. He spent his youthful years in Tbilisi. L. Kulidzhanov was keen on theater: in his adolescence, he was the author, director and frequently – leading actor - of the plays, which he used to produce at school. After graduating the school in 1942, he entered the evening department of Tbilisi State University. At the same time, he worked at the toolmaking factory. In 1944, he moved to Moscow. In 1955, he graduated from the faculty of film direction of All-Union State Institute of cinematography (S. Gerasimov’s workshop). L. Kulidzhanov directed over 11 films; among them: It Began Hereby (1956), House, Where I Live (1957), Paternal Home (1959), When Trees Were Tall (1962), Crime and Punishment (based on F. Dostoevsky’s novel, 1970; for the film L. Kulidzhanov received the State Prize of the RSFSR in 1971).

L. Kulidzhanov kept close relations with his Georgian friends; Although he lived and worked in Moscow, he frequently visited Tbilisi. In 2002, film director Mikheil Kalatozishvili (Junior) and cameraman Alexandr Kulidzhanov made a documentary film I Dream of My Ridgy Tbilisi, which showed the people, who were, somehow, connected with Tbilisi; among them was L. Kulidzhanov. In the movie, he recalled his adolescent years and the period when he lived on Leningrad Street in Tbilisi. In 1983 L. Kulidzhanov was granted the title of an Honorary citizen of Tbilisi. Lev Kulidzhanov died in Moscow. He was buried at the Kuntsevo cemetery.