Biography

Aleksandr Vladimirovich Rogozhkin (Russian: Алекса́ндр Влади́мирович Рого́жкин; 3 October 1949 – 23 October 2021; Leningrad) was a Russian film director and writer. In 1990, Rogozhkin directed Karaul, which won the Alfred Bauer Prize at the 40th Berlin International Film Festival. Rogozhkin's film The Chekist was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival. Abroad, he is famous for his acclaimed 2002 film The Cuckoo (Kukushka), which won the Golden Eagle Award for Best Picture, Best Screenplay, Best Directing, and Best Feature Film. The film was also entered into the 24th Moscow International Film Festival where he won the award for Best Director. This film also received the Annual Best Film Award and Best Screenplay Award, both in 2002 in Moscow from the Guild of Historians of Cinema and Film Critics. It also won Best Feature Film and Best Directing for the Nika Awards in 2002, and it won Best Screenplay at the Honfleur Russian Film Festival in 2003 in Honfleur, France. Rogozhkin was also one of the first filmmakers addressing the Chechen War with his 1998 Blokpost war drama. Rogozhkin's most renowned television work are episodes of the Streets of Broken Lights – Russia's most popular police procedural TV series. He also directed the spin-off series Deadly Force. He also directed a series of popular Russian-language screwball comedies Peculiarities of National...: Peculiarities of National Hunt (1995), Peculiarities of National Fishing (1998), Peculiarities of the National Hunt in Winter Season (2000), and Peculiarities of National Politics (2003). These were made in a similar vein together with Operation Happy New Year, containing much humor about alcohol-related adventures and stunts. It won the Nika Award for Best Film, Best Director, and Best Actor. It was nominated for the Nika award for Best Screenplay, and it was nominated for the Crystal Globe Award. Rogozhkin's film Transit (Peregon) was released in 2006. It is a "wartime tragicomedy" about the relationship between Soviet soldiers in the Far Eastern outpost in Chukotka and the American female pilots who bring them U.S.-made airplanes from Alaska through the lend-lease program. As in The Cuckoo, Rogozhkin cast a number of amateur actors for Peregon.