Russian filmmaker

Vitali Kanevsky was born in 1935 in Partizansk, in the Soviet Far East. His career is one of the most atypical in the history of cinema: after studying at VGIK (the Moscow Film School), his career was cut short by an eight-year sentence in a labor camp for a common crime.

It was only at the age of 54 that he emerged from obscurity with his first major film, inspired by his own youth. His cinema is characterized by a stark realism, a desperate vitality, and a complete absence of sentimentality. Exiled to France after the success of his first films, he found partners in Europe to document post-Soviet Russia.

He is considered a shooting star of cinema, whose brutal honesty allowed us to see Russia far removed from official clichés.

Filmography

Autumn of a New Life (2001)

Kto Bolshe, the New Russian Entrepreneurs (1999)

We, the Children of the 20th Century – FIPA Prize (1993)

An Independent Life – Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival (1992)

Don't Move, Die and Rise Again! – Caméra d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival (1990)