Yuri Mamin
Encyclopedia
Yuri Mamin is a celebrated Soviet and Russia
n film director, stage director, screenwriter, composer, author and television host, Honored Art Worker of the Russian Federation. His highly popular film "Window to Paris" (1993) may be truly called a people's film. His Buddhist-themed film "Don't Think About White Monkeys" (2008) is popular among the Russian noncomformist youth, including punks and rockers.
Yuri Mamin is the only person in Russia to have won the Chaplin's Golden Cane award. The award was presented by Charlie Chaplin
's widow, Oona Chaplin, at the festival marking 100 years since the birth of the great comedian. The festival was held in the Swiss city of Vevey, where Chaplin was buried.
One special thing about Mamin's career - or, more accurately, about its almost non-existence in the totalitarian USSR, as well as in the corporate oligarchy - is the fact that he embodies in his art a vivid portrait of an inspired citizen in the fight for social justice.
Yuri Mamin began his directing career under the communist regime. He was never a communist and was always opposed to the oppressive power of the Communist Party. Because of this, he could not create his films until the beginning of Perestroika in 1985 and Mikhail Gorbachev's arrival to power.
The Gorbachev period ended in 1991 and Yuri Mamin again became a persona non grata for the criminal tycoons
who almost immediately took over all the leading positions in Russian cinema and mass media.
From the early 1990s, a group of official Russian film critics, controlled by the regime, began a period of notorious denigration of the film director and his art. Against this background, Mamin's films won the love of audiences throughout the nation. Almost all of his films received numerous grand prizes and other awards.
The official state-supported Russian Encyclopedia of National Cinema, edited by L. Arkus, contains offensive critical reviews of Mamin's films
, while acknowledging his talent and important place in the history of Russian cinematography.
. He was repressed
and shot during Stalin's Great Purge in 1937. According to Yuri Mamin's maternal grandmother, his grandfather considered the writer Dmitry Mamin-Sibiryak a relative. Galina Dmitrievna Mamina, the film director’s mother, was an art historian and theater worker who taught theater history at the Leningrad Higher Trade-Union School of Culture. She conducted brilliant, unforgettable lectures that are remembered by her students, who became directors of concert halls and heads of Departments of Culture.
Yuri Mamin inherited his Tatar surname from his mother. His stepfather, Nikolai Nikolaevich Chizhov, was a famous player for the Football Club Zenit
in the beginning of the 1950s. Many years later, Mamin would name the main hero of his film "Window to Paris" after his father.
From his talented mother, who played piano beautifully, and his grandfather, who was the life and soul of every party, Yuri Mamin inherited a gift of music and leadership qualities. At first, he wanted to become a pianist and enter the conservatoire, but he broke his arm in a street fight and had to give up his dreams of a musical career.
At that time, young people aged 25 years and older were accepted into the directing program, but not of younger age. It was considered, and rightly so, that directors could only be people with life experience, practice working with people, and a cultural knowledge base. But professor Leonid Fyodorovich Makaryev, a People’s Artist of the USSR, liked the 18-year-old boy who, at a colloquium, boldly answered questions about theater, film and literature, Peter Brook and existentialism - a result of his mother’s teaching. An exception was made, and Yuri was accepted into an experimental acting-directing course, where budding directors studied alongside budding actors. They worked on all acting skills, including voice, dance, fencing, etc. Additionally, from the first year on they studied how to put on sketches, fragments and entire plays with their classmates.
It was precisely this collaborative study under the supervision of wise educators and this constant acting-directing practice that gave Yuri Mamin the ability to understand from inside all the fine details of the acting profession and to work confidently with all levels of actors, from untrained beginners to the most experienced stage masters. During his study at the institute, Mamin gained confidence in his skills, participating in student revues and in plays on the stage of the old Young Spectator's Theatre
(TUZ).
It was also there that Mamin met his life's companion, actress and wife, Lyudmila Samokhvalova. They have lived together since then to this very day.
For his graduation play, Yuri Mamin was sent to the regional city of Velikiye Luki
, where he was commissioned by the leaders of the local drama theater to direct Denis Fonvizin
’s comedy "The Minor" for a high school program. Having decided to follow in the footsteps of his idol, Vsevolod Meyerhold
, Mamin directed "The Minor" in such an uninhibited manner and with so much eccentricity, that the teachers forbade their students from seeing the play, which caused a frenzy in the city. The play was a resounding success and Mamin's name became famous well beyond the confines of the theater and the city. The Regional Committee discussed a possible position for him as director of the theater. Perhaps it could have happened, and that prestigious position would have tied the young director to the stage career for a long time, if not forever. However, at that time Mamin received his draft notice from the army. He was sent to serve in the Armed Forces and never returned to Velikiye Luki again.
as an entrance exam for Ryazanov's workshop of comedy film. Ryazanov liked the work and subsequently accepted Mamin. But that happened quite some time after.
The director had many duties at Lenconcert: he staged performances of the readers, singers, illusionists and dancers, and he adapted modern and classical works of literature for the stage. Beyond this, he led the student theater "Podorozhnik" along with the poet and dramatist Vyacheslav Leikin, who would later become the screenwriter for some of Mamin’s films.
The second director of the film was Viktor Aristov, Mamin’s friend from the theater institute, who had already worked in film for 10 years. He was like Virgil
for Dante
, Mamin’s guide through the unknown world of cinematography. He particularly helped the theater director understand the differences between film and theater as a director, as well as an actor, and helped to set him on his way to explore the language of cinema.
. In that year, three workshops were organized: one by Eldar Ryazanov
, one by Georgi Daneliya
and one by Nikita Mikhalkov
.
Ivan Dykhovichny, Vladimir Khotinenko, and Isaak Fridburg studied with Mamin. In total, there were only twelve students. Eldar Ryazanov focused his workshop on the ability to work with screenplays. For each of his lessons he made the students bring their own fresh scripts for short films. At first this was agonizing work for Mamin. After all, he was not a writer and had never aspired to the profession. However, he had to complete the homework of the master. Today he is very thankful to his teacher. Mamin not only always takes part in the screenwriting for his films, but he tries to teach this to his students.
Enrollment from 1979 till 1982 was unique for the course: the students, along with the aforementioned masters, heard lectures from the philosopher M. Mamardashvili, historian N. Eidelman, art critic P. Volkova, and directors A. Mitta and L.Trauberg. Andrey Tarkovsky gave a long series of lectures before he left Russia forever.
His final coursework was the film "Zhelau Vam!" ("I Wish You!"), based on a screenplay written by V. Leikin. Having received the highest grade of 5 on the Russian five-point grading scale, Mamin returned to Lenfilm, but his first independent production would not be for another four years. He returned to his job as the second director and helped his colleague and friend Viktor Aristov to shoot the film "Gunpowder", timed to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the WWII Victory.
gift, had determined the fate of both cinematographers. After having discovered Volodya, a talented teammate, Mamin confidently entered into the maelstrom of a filmmaker's life.
1986, the first collaborative film of Mamin and Vardunas "Neptune’s Holiday" (1986) was an explosive hit; or, rather, it was like finding a well in the desert. Attendees at the Fifth Congress of Soviet Filmmakers and at writer and journalist conventions responded vigorously to Mamin's work, calling it "the first film of Perestroika".
"Neptune’s Holiday" was honored with a number of professional film prizes, including the Golden Ducat award in Mannheim (1986) and the Charlie Chaplin Great Award in Gabrovo (1987).
, consisted of the satirist Mikhail Zhvanetsky
, journalist Vitaly Korotich
, composer Nikita Bogoslovsky
and artist Ilya Glazunov
.
In 1989, Mamin won the Chaplin's Golden Cane Award for his film "Fountain" in Vevey
, Switzerland, the second Chaplin award in Gabrovo, Bulgaria, as well as numerous other awards at different international film festivals.
The actors of the film - Viktor Mikhailov, Sergey Dreiden (Dontsov), Ivan Krivoruchko, Lyudmila Samokhvalova, Zhanna Kerimtaeva and Nina Usatova - won the prize for the best ensemble cast at the festival "Sozvezdie" ("Constellation").
"Bakenbardy" has not yet been shown in Russian theaters for ideological reasons. However, it received the prestigious FIPRESSI prize at the film festival in San Sebastian (Spain).
In 1990, Mamin released the film "Bakenbardy" ("SIDEBURNS"), written by V. Leikin, a brutal Brechtian
farce
about a fanatical "national
-Pushkinist" scholar and his clique. This film was made at a time when a wave of rampant nationalism swept over Russia.
"Bakenbardy" has not yet been released in Russian theaters for ideological reasons. However, it received the prestigious FIPRESCI Award at the film festival in San Sebastian
, Spain.
in Russia.
At the end of the film, the main character, Nikolai Chizhov, a school music teacher and a member of the Russian intelligentsia, gives a persuasive speech to the children, who have decided to remain in Paris. In his words: You were born in a terrible time in a poor, devastated country. But it is your country, after all! Don't you want to make it better? At that time, this was a rather rare demonstration of patriotism; the authors of the film and all its actors were quite sincere.
As a division of Lenfilm
, the film company Troitsky Most refused to participate in financing the project, thus putting the French partners on the edge of financial collapse and threatening the production of the film. Because of this situation, Yuri Mamin was urged to establish his own film company in order to attract support from commercial businesses that were thriving in post-Perestroika Russia. That is how Yuri Mamin's Fountain Fund for Support and Development of Cinematography was created.
The name of the fund, "Fountain", is from Mamin's preceding film that won the grand prize at a French film festival, which had been organized under the patronage of Madame Danielle Mitterrand
, the wife of the French then-president François Mitterrand
. It was this in particular that facilitated financing for the film "Window to Paris" from the French fund CNC.
The comedy "Window to Paris" attained such success in France and at the Berlin Film Festival that Michael Barker, the co-president of the American distribution company Sony Pictures Classics
, arranged for the film to be released in the United States, and twice requested Goskino to submit the film "Window to Paris" for the 1994 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
Barker wrote: "The response to the film at screenings in Los Angeles and New York has been terrific with both the critics and the audiences. It seems to communicate the message of bringing two cultures together in a warm and enlightening manner... should 'Salade Russe' be the Official Russian Entry to the Academy for the Best Foreign Film Academy Award, we feel confident the picture will not only be nominated for the Award, but has a very good chance to ultimately win the Award itself."
However, at that time Nikita Mikhalkov
, with his freshly finished film "Burnt by the Sun", greatly wished to be considered for the Oscar. After the chairman of the Russian Oscar Committee, Elem Klimov, did not agree to submit Mikhalkov’s film to the competition, Mikhalkov demonstrated his outstanding skills in behind-the-scenes intrigues. Elem Klimov was immediately replaced by Mikhalkov's brother, Andrey Konchalovsky, who agreed to send the film "Burnt by the Sun" to the United States. Thus, Mamin was deprived of the opportunity to win the Oscar.
The members of the Russian Oscar Committee remain under the control of Nikita Mikhalkov, who shapes the politics of Russian cinematography. Therefore, in Mamin's opinion, neither the best nor the most talented films are being submitted to the American Film Academy, but rather the ones created by Mikhalkov's favorite artists. Nikita Mikhalkov is currently Vladimir Putin's cinematography adviser.
The idea of a mystical window, a dimensional portal between Russia and Paris, came to the mind of the Moscow screenwriter Felix Mironer long before Gorbachev's Perestroika. He told this idea to the filmmaker Aleksey German, who sold it 20 years later to Arkady Tigai, Yuri Mamin' co-author, for a bottle of cognac.
"Window to Paris" may be truly called a people's film. It is the most famous of all Yuri Mamin’s works, and is loved by millions of viewers around the world. Many quotations from the film have become folk proverbs.
, or Come to Us After... Many Years", at the Theater on Liteiny in Saint Petersburg. Mamin wrote this play together with Arkady Tigai. In the play there were two Lenins
, played with great success by Viktor Sukhorukov and Aleksandr Zhdanov. Perhaps in this play Yuri Mamin wished to return to his youth; "Kremlin Chimes" was abundant with jokes and gags. Dmitry Bykov, a famous writer, journalist and television personality, came twice to Moscow to see this play that he considered "one of the best examples of modern satire," as he remarked in his radio program on City FM.
Because of this situation, Yuri Mamin moved to television at the end of 1994 and began hosting educational, humorous, musical and original TV programs such as "From Forte to Piano" and "Chameleon" for the channel RTR. These programs were highly appreciated by artists and became popular among the intelligentsia.
He gathered his closest associates, including Vladimir Vardunas and Arkady Tigai, and together they came up with a screenplay for a film consisting of ten short stories.
The film was released in theaters in 1998, and went on to win the award for best comedy film at the festival "Window to Europe" in Vyborg, Russia.
The series "Grim Tales From Russia," which totaled eighteen episodes, was shown on the federal channel STS. The series was so radically different from the other projects on the channel that the management could not decide when the series should be shown. Finally, a "wise" solution was found: the series was aired at night when the majority of viewers were sleeping.
However, the population in the Russian regions to the east of Moscow greatly appreciated the originality of "Grim Tales From Russia". Multitudes of fans were troubling the director during the following years with the question: where one can find the full series?
The Saint Petersburg company "Bomba-Piter" released the "Grim Tales From Russia" on DVD in 2009; the series immediately appeared online on pirate websites.
, convinced the distinguished film director to return to the big screen. They found investors who supported his socially critical film "Don’t Think About White Monkeys," written together with Vladimir Vardunas and rendered into verse by the poet Vyacheslav Leikin. The film has a second name, given in the captions: "Chaldean Face."
The financial support for the film was obtained slowly, with long breaks in between; the work stopped for months at a time on more than one occasion. For that reason, the director, as an experienced, skilled worker capable of fulfilling tasks within a tight schedule, had been working on this film for over three years.
However, if not for the financial support of a few honorable people - successful Russian businessmen - the film would never have been finished. Nevertheless, it was completed in 2009 and was successfully shown at a number of film festivals. The film opened in limited release.
Even before its release, the film was fiendishly stolen by criminals who produced pirated DVDs and distributed the film illegally on the internet, thus causing great financial difficulties for the film's sales in Russia. Nevertheless, after having won two prestigious grand prizes at international film festivals in England and Morocco (Rabat), western distributors became interested in the film. It is slated to be dubbed into English by the famous British sound engineer Ray Gillon.
Notably, it will be the first time in the history of cinema that a Russian film in verse will be translated poetically into English verse.
The film premiered successfully in the United States (New York and Minneapolis), France, Portugal, Lithuania, Ukraine, Canada and Germany.
The mystical ballad "Insomnia", sung in the film by the actress Katerina Ksenyeva, is very popular with its listeners.
Yuri Mamin’s film "Don’t Think About White Monkeys" won the first prize at the first ever online film festival, “Double 2”, organized by the Russian Gazette ("Rossiyskaya Gazeta"). During the festival, the competing films were watched in 56 countries all around the world, thus proving that a mindful and soulful film can, indeed, be victorious.
In addition, he is the creator and host of the educational program "House of Culture" on the Saint Petersburg channel TV-100, where he speaks on the defense of citizen rights, about the values of world culture, and about the protection of the environment and of animals in grave danger of extinction in Russia.
Yuri Mamin is a member of the International Tibet Support Network. He is also a member of the Society for the Protection of Animal Rights and is a staunch opponent of hunting.
The TV program "House of Culture" is run in an interactive fashion whereby Yuri Mamin engages in direct discussions with viewers on matters of public concern.
Besides the aforementioned program, Yuri Mamin released the satirical TV journal “Shards” (“Oskolki”). Seven episodes of “Shards” appeared on TV-100 in 2010.
Yuri Mamin has a number of new film projects in the works, including "Window to Paris 201…", "Rockman" and "Dangerous Resemblance".
Grand Prizes at film festivals in Moscow, Kiev and Tbilisi, 1988-1989 (Neptune's Holiday)
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n film director, stage director, screenwriter, composer, author and television host, Honored Art Worker of the Russian Federation. His highly popular film "Window to Paris" (1993) may be truly called a people's film. His Buddhist-themed film "Don't Think About White Monkeys" (2008) is popular among the Russian noncomformist youth, including punks and rockers.
Yuri Mamin is the only person in Russia to have won the Chaplin's Golden Cane award. The award was presented by Charlie Chaplin
Charlie Chaplin
Sir Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin, KBE was an English comic actor, film director and composer best known for his work during the silent film era. He became the most famous film star in the world before the end of World War I...
's widow, Oona Chaplin, at the festival marking 100 years since the birth of the great comedian. The festival was held in the Swiss city of Vevey, where Chaplin was buried.
One special thing about Mamin's career - or, more accurately, about its almost non-existence in the totalitarian USSR, as well as in the corporate oligarchy - is the fact that he embodies in his art a vivid portrait of an inspired citizen in the fight for social justice.
Yuri Mamin began his directing career under the communist regime. He was never a communist and was always opposed to the oppressive power of the Communist Party. Because of this, he could not create his films until the beginning of Perestroika in 1985 and Mikhail Gorbachev's arrival to power.
The Gorbachev period ended in 1991 and Yuri Mamin again became a persona non grata for the criminal tycoons
Russian oligarchs
Business oligarch is a near-synonym of the term "business magnate", borrowed by the English speaking and western media from Russian parlance to describe the huge, fast-acquired wealth of some businessmen of the former Soviet republics during privatization in Russia and other post-Soviet states in...
who almost immediately took over all the leading positions in Russian cinema and mass media.
From the early 1990s, a group of official Russian film critics, controlled by the regime, began a period of notorious denigration of the film director and his art. Against this background, Mamin's films won the love of audiences throughout the nation. Almost all of his films received numerous grand prizes and other awards.
The official state-supported Russian Encyclopedia of National Cinema, edited by L. Arkus, contains offensive critical reviews of Mamin's films
Yuri Mamin filmography
Yuri Mamin is a celebrated Soviet and Russian film director, stage director, screenwriter, composer, author and television host, Honored Art Worker of the Russian Federation.-Films:-Awards:...
, while acknowledging his talent and important place in the history of Russian cinematography.
Childhood and youth
Yuri Mamin was born in 1946. His grandfather, Dmitry Dmitrievich Mamin, was the People’s Commissar of the Petrograd river routes and a descendant of Northern TatarsTatars
Tatars are a Turkic speaking ethnic group , numbering roughly 7 million.The majority of Tatars live in the Russian Federation, with a population of around 5.5 million, about 2 million of which in the republic of Tatarstan.Significant minority populations are found in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan,...
. He was repressed
Great Purge
The Great Purge was a series of campaigns of political repression and persecution in the Soviet Union orchestrated by Joseph Stalin from 1936 to 1938...
and shot during Stalin's Great Purge in 1937. According to Yuri Mamin's maternal grandmother, his grandfather considered the writer Dmitry Mamin-Sibiryak a relative. Galina Dmitrievna Mamina, the film director’s mother, was an art historian and theater worker who taught theater history at the Leningrad Higher Trade-Union School of Culture. She conducted brilliant, unforgettable lectures that are remembered by her students, who became directors of concert halls and heads of Departments of Culture.
Yuri Mamin inherited his Tatar surname from his mother. His stepfather, Nikolai Nikolaevich Chizhov, was a famous player for the Football Club Zenit
FC Zenit Saint Petersburg
Football Club Zenit is a Russian football club from the city of Saint-Petersburg. Founded in 1925 , the club plays in the Russian Premier League...
in the beginning of the 1950s. Many years later, Mamin would name the main hero of his film "Window to Paris" after his father.
From his talented mother, who played piano beautifully, and his grandfather, who was the life and soul of every party, Yuri Mamin inherited a gift of music and leadership qualities. At first, he wanted to become a pianist and enter the conservatoire, but he broke his arm in a street fight and had to give up his dreams of a musical career.
Student life
Immediately after graduating from high school, Yuri applied for the theater directing course at the Leningrad Institute of Theater, Music and Cinematography.At that time, young people aged 25 years and older were accepted into the directing program, but not of younger age. It was considered, and rightly so, that directors could only be people with life experience, practice working with people, and a cultural knowledge base. But professor Leonid Fyodorovich Makaryev, a People’s Artist of the USSR, liked the 18-year-old boy who, at a colloquium, boldly answered questions about theater, film and literature, Peter Brook and existentialism - a result of his mother’s teaching. An exception was made, and Yuri was accepted into an experimental acting-directing course, where budding directors studied alongside budding actors. They worked on all acting skills, including voice, dance, fencing, etc. Additionally, from the first year on they studied how to put on sketches, fragments and entire plays with their classmates.
It was precisely this collaborative study under the supervision of wise educators and this constant acting-directing practice that gave Yuri Mamin the ability to understand from inside all the fine details of the acting profession and to work confidently with all levels of actors, from untrained beginners to the most experienced stage masters. During his study at the institute, Mamin gained confidence in his skills, participating in student revues and in plays on the stage of the old Young Spectator's Theatre
Young Spectator's Theatre
Young Spectator's Theatre was a standard name of a theatre for children and youth in many cities of the Soviet Union, usually referred to by this abbreviation: тюз, TYuZ...
(TUZ).
It was also there that Mamin met his life's companion, actress and wife, Lyudmila Samokhvalova. They have lived together since then to this very day.
For his graduation play, Yuri Mamin was sent to the regional city of Velikiye Luki
Velikiye Luki
Velikiye Luki is a town on the meandering Lovat River in the southern part of Pskov Oblast, Russia. It is the second largest town in Pskov Oblast; population: The town is served by the Velikiye Luki Airport....
, where he was commissioned by the leaders of the local drama theater to direct Denis Fonvizin
Denis Fonvizin
Denis Ivanovich Fonvizin was a playwright of the Russian Enlightenment, whose plays are still staged today. His main works are two satirical comedies which mock contemporary Russian gentry.-Life:...
’s comedy "The Minor" for a high school program. Having decided to follow in the footsteps of his idol, Vsevolod Meyerhold
Vsevolod Meyerhold
Vsevolod Emilevich Meyerhold was a great Russian and Soviet theatre director, actor and theatrical producer. His provocative experiments dealing with physical being and symbolism in an unconventional theatre setting made him one of the seminal forces in modern international theatre.-Early...
, Mamin directed "The Minor" in such an uninhibited manner and with so much eccentricity, that the teachers forbade their students from seeing the play, which caused a frenzy in the city. The play was a resounding success and Mamin's name became famous well beyond the confines of the theater and the city. The Regional Committee discussed a possible position for him as director of the theater. Perhaps it could have happened, and that prestigious position would have tied the young director to the stage career for a long time, if not forever. However, at that time Mamin received his draft notice from the army. He was sent to serve in the Armed Forces and never returned to Velikiye Luki again.
Army service
Mamin's service in the military orchestra of a missile unit presented him with a picture of Soviet socialism that he had been lacking and a full understanding of the historical situation in the country. Moreover, Mamin’s theatrical work "One Day in the Life of a Conscript Soldier, A Musician in a Brass Band" was presented to Eldar RyazanovEldar Ryazanov
Eldar Aleksandrovich Ryazanov is a Soviet/Russian film director whose comedies, satirizing the daily life of the country, are very famous throughout the former Soviet Union....
as an entrance exam for Ryazanov's workshop of comedy film. Ryazanov liked the work and subsequently accepted Mamin. But that happened quite some time after.
Time of choosing
After having served his military conscription term, Mamin was demobilized. He returned to Leningrad, where no one but his family was waiting for him. The circumstances were not easy; all the director positions in city theaters were filled. The only opportunity was Lenconcert, where the director's position had just become available. Since Mamin had already worked with this organization before his military service and had delivered to them a variety show that received an award at the All-Russian Competition, Yuri was hired.The director had many duties at Lenconcert: he staged performances of the readers, singers, illusionists and dancers, and he adapted modern and classical works of literature for the stage. Beyond this, he led the student theater "Podorozhnik" along with the poet and dramatist Vyacheslav Leikin, who would later become the screenwriter for some of Mamin’s films.
Departure to film
In 1976, under the influence of his wife, actress Lyudmila Samokhvalova, Yuri Mamin made a life-changing decision: to try his hand at film. After leaving Lenconcert, he entered Lenfilm as a director’s assistant on a film crew for Sergey Mikaelyan’s movie "Victory Day" ("Widows").The second director of the film was Viktor Aristov, Mamin’s friend from the theater institute, who had already worked in film for 10 years. He was like Virgil
Virgil
Publius Vergilius Maro, usually called Virgil or Vergil in English , was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He is known for three major works of Latin literature, the Eclogues , the Georgics, and the epic Aeneid...
for Dante
DANTE
Delivery of Advanced Network Technology to Europe is a not-for-profit organisation that plans, builds and operates the international networks that interconnect the various national research and education networks in Europe and surrounding regions...
, Mamin’s guide through the unknown world of cinematography. He particularly helped the theater director understand the differences between film and theater as a director, as well as an actor, and helped to set him on his way to explore the language of cinema.
Higher Courses of Screenwriters and Directors
Having put in his time as an assistant on a few movies, Mamin, on the advice of his wife, entered the two-year higher course for directors and screenwriters in MoscowMoscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
. In that year, three workshops were organized: one by Eldar Ryazanov
Eldar Ryazanov
Eldar Aleksandrovich Ryazanov is a Soviet/Russian film director whose comedies, satirizing the daily life of the country, are very famous throughout the former Soviet Union....
, one by Georgi Daneliya
Georgi Daneliya
Georgi Daneliya is a Soviet/Georgian/Russian film director, who became known throughout the Soviet Union for his "sad comedies" .Daneliya graduated from the Moscow Architecture Institute and worked as an architect...
and one by Nikita Mikhalkov
Nikita Mikhalkov
Nikita Sergeyevich Mikhalkov is a Soviet and Russian filmmaker, actor, and head of the Russian Cinematographers' Union.Mikhalkov was born in Moscow into the distinguished, artistic Mikhalkov family. His great grandfather was the imperial governor of Yaroslavl, whose mother was a Galitzine princess...
.
Ivan Dykhovichny, Vladimir Khotinenko, and Isaak Fridburg studied with Mamin. In total, there were only twelve students. Eldar Ryazanov focused his workshop on the ability to work with screenplays. For each of his lessons he made the students bring their own fresh scripts for short films. At first this was agonizing work for Mamin. After all, he was not a writer and had never aspired to the profession. However, he had to complete the homework of the master. Today he is very thankful to his teacher. Mamin not only always takes part in the screenwriting for his films, but he tries to teach this to his students.
Enrollment from 1979 till 1982 was unique for the course: the students, along with the aforementioned masters, heard lectures from the philosopher M. Mamardashvili, historian N. Eidelman, art critic P. Volkova, and directors A. Mitta and L.Trauberg. Andrey Tarkovsky gave a long series of lectures before he left Russia forever.
His final coursework was the film "Zhelau Vam!" ("I Wish You!"), based on a screenplay written by V. Leikin. Having received the highest grade of 5 on the Russian five-point grading scale, Mamin returned to Lenfilm, but his first independent production would not be for another four years. He returned to his job as the second director and helped his colleague and friend Viktor Aristov to shoot the film "Gunpowder", timed to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the WWII Victory.
Debut in cinema: Neptune's Holiday
In 1985, a meeting with the screenwriter Vladimir Vardunas, a playwright with a GogolianNikolai Gogol
Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol was a Ukrainian-born Russian dramatist and novelist.Considered by his contemporaries one of the preeminent figures of the natural school of Russian literary realism, later critics have found in Gogol's work a fundamentally romantic sensibility, with strains of Surrealism...
gift, had determined the fate of both cinematographers. After having discovered Volodya, a talented teammate, Mamin confidently entered into the maelstrom of a filmmaker's life.
1986, the first collaborative film of Mamin and Vardunas "Neptune’s Holiday" (1986) was an explosive hit; or, rather, it was like finding a well in the desert. Attendees at the Fifth Congress of Soviet Filmmakers and at writer and journalist conventions responded vigorously to Mamin's work, calling it "the first film of Perestroika".
"Neptune’s Holiday" was honored with a number of professional film prizes, including the Golden Ducat award in Mannheim (1986) and the Charlie Chaplin Great Award in Gabrovo (1987).
Fountain
Mamin's film "Fountain" (1988), written by Vladimir Vardunas, was unanimously chosen for first prize at the first International Film Festival "Golden Duke" in Odessa. The judging panel, led by Eldar RyazanovEldar Ryazanov
Eldar Aleksandrovich Ryazanov is a Soviet/Russian film director whose comedies, satirizing the daily life of the country, are very famous throughout the former Soviet Union....
, consisted of the satirist Mikhail Zhvanetsky
Mikhail Zhvanetsky
Mikhail Mikhaylovich Zhvanetsky is a famous Soviet and Russian satiric writer and stand-up comedian...
, journalist Vitaly Korotich
Vitaly Korotich
Vitaly Korotich is a Soviet, Ukrainian and Russian writer and journalist,.Vitaly Korotich was born in 1936 in Kiev. In 1959 he graduated from the Kiev Medical University. Vitaly Korotich worked as a doctor between 1959 and 1966. Later, he became as a full-time writer, and served as an officer of...
, composer Nikita Bogoslovsky
Nikita Bogoslovsky
Nikita Bogoslovsky Nikita Bogoslovsky Nikita Bogoslovsky (Ники′та Влади′мирович Богосло′вский, (May 22, 1913, Saint-Petersburg, Russian Empire, – April 4, 2004, Moscow, Russia) was a prominent Soviet/Russian composer, author of more than 200 songs (many of which, like Shalanda and Dark Night were...
and artist Ilya Glazunov
Ilya Glazunov
Ilya Glazunov , contemporary Russian artist from Saint Petersburg, born in 1930. He holds the title of People's Artist of Russia, and serves as a rector at the Fine Arts Academy in Moscow...
.
In 1989, Mamin won the Chaplin's Golden Cane Award for his film "Fountain" in Vevey
Vevey
Vevey is a town in Switzerland in the canton Vaud, on the north shore of Lake Geneva, near Lausanne.It was the seat of the district of the same name until 2006, and is now part of the Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut District...
, Switzerland, the second Chaplin award in Gabrovo, Bulgaria, as well as numerous other awards at different international film festivals.
The actors of the film - Viktor Mikhailov, Sergey Dreiden (Dontsov), Ivan Krivoruchko, Lyudmila Samokhvalova, Zhanna Kerimtaeva and Nina Usatova - won the prize for the best ensemble cast at the festival "Sozvezdie" ("Constellation").
Bakenbardy
In 1990, Mamin released his new film “Bakenbardy” (“Sideburns”), written by V. Leikin. It was a violent farce about a fanatical "national-Pushkinist" scholar and his clique, who were obsessed with nationalist ideas and the poetry of Alexander Pushkin, This film was made in a time of rampant nationalism in Russia."Bakenbardy" has not yet been shown in Russian theaters for ideological reasons. However, it received the prestigious FIPRESSI prize at the film festival in San Sebastian (Spain).
In 1990, Mamin released the film "Bakenbardy" ("SIDEBURNS"), written by V. Leikin, a brutal Brechtian
Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director.An influential theatre practitioner of the 20th century, Brecht made equally significant contributions to dramaturgy and theatrical production, the latter particularly through the seismic impact of the tours undertaken by the...
farce
Farce
In theatre, a farce is a comedy which aims at entertaining the audience by means of unlikely, extravagant, and improbable situations, disguise and mistaken identity, verbal humour of varying degrees of sophistication, which may include word play, and a fast-paced plot whose speed usually increases,...
about a fanatical "national
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
-Pushkinist" scholar and his clique. This film was made at a time when a wave of rampant nationalism swept over Russia.
"Bakenbardy" has not yet been released in Russian theaters for ideological reasons. However, it received the prestigious FIPRESCI Award at the film festival in San Sebastian
San Sebastián
Donostia-San Sebastián is a city and municipality located in the north of Spain, in the coast of the Bay of Biscay and 20 km away from the French border. The city is the capital of Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. The municipality’s population is 186,122 , and its...
, Spain.
Window to Paris
Some French friends suggested that Yuri Mamin should make a joint Russian-French film, which led to the creation of the 1993 film "Window to Paris" or "Salade Russe". The film is a prediction about the future of Europe, about the bestial invasion of Russian demoralized businessmen and the humiliation of the intelligentsiaIntelligentsia
The intelligentsia is a social class of people engaged in complex, mental and creative labor directed to the development and dissemination of culture, encompassing intellectuals and social groups close to them...
in Russia.
At the end of the film, the main character, Nikolai Chizhov, a school music teacher and a member of the Russian intelligentsia, gives a persuasive speech to the children, who have decided to remain in Paris. In his words: You were born in a terrible time in a poor, devastated country. But it is your country, after all! Don't you want to make it better? At that time, this was a rather rare demonstration of patriotism; the authors of the film and all its actors were quite sincere.
As a division of Lenfilm
Lenfilm
Kinostudiya "Lenfilm" is a production unit of the Russian film industry, with its own film studio, located in Saint Petersburg, Russia, formerly Leningrad, R.S.F.S.R. Today OAO "Kinostudiya Lenfilm" is a corporation with its stakes shared between private owners, and several private film studios,...
, the film company Troitsky Most refused to participate in financing the project, thus putting the French partners on the edge of financial collapse and threatening the production of the film. Because of this situation, Yuri Mamin was urged to establish his own film company in order to attract support from commercial businesses that were thriving in post-Perestroika Russia. That is how Yuri Mamin's Fountain Fund for Support and Development of Cinematography was created.
The name of the fund, "Fountain", is from Mamin's preceding film that won the grand prize at a French film festival, which had been organized under the patronage of Madame Danielle Mitterrand
Danielle Mitterrand
Danielle Mitterrand was the wife of French President François Mitterrand, and president of the foundation France Libertés Fondation Danielle Mitterrand.-Biography:...
, the wife of the French then-president François Mitterrand
François Mitterrand
François Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand was the 21st President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra, serving from 1981 until 1995. He is the longest-serving President of France and, as leader of the Socialist Party, the only figure from the left so far elected President...
. It was this in particular that facilitated financing for the film "Window to Paris" from the French fund CNC.
The comedy "Window to Paris" attained such success in France and at the Berlin Film Festival that Michael Barker, the co-president of the American distribution company Sony Pictures Classics
Sony Pictures Classics
Sony Pictures Classics is an art-house film division of Sony Pictures Entertainment founded in December 1991 that distributes, produces and acquires specialty films from the United States and around the world. Its co-presidents are Michael Barker and Tom Bernard...
, arranged for the film to be released in the United States, and twice requested Goskino to submit the film "Window to Paris" for the 1994 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
Barker wrote: "The response to the film at screenings in Los Angeles and New York has been terrific with both the critics and the audiences. It seems to communicate the message of bringing two cultures together in a warm and enlightening manner... should 'Salade Russe' be the Official Russian Entry to the Academy for the Best Foreign Film Academy Award, we feel confident the picture will not only be nominated for the Award, but has a very good chance to ultimately win the Award itself."
However, at that time Nikita Mikhalkov
Nikita Mikhalkov
Nikita Sergeyevich Mikhalkov is a Soviet and Russian filmmaker, actor, and head of the Russian Cinematographers' Union.Mikhalkov was born in Moscow into the distinguished, artistic Mikhalkov family. His great grandfather was the imperial governor of Yaroslavl, whose mother was a Galitzine princess...
, with his freshly finished film "Burnt by the Sun", greatly wished to be considered for the Oscar. After the chairman of the Russian Oscar Committee, Elem Klimov, did not agree to submit Mikhalkov’s film to the competition, Mikhalkov demonstrated his outstanding skills in behind-the-scenes intrigues. Elem Klimov was immediately replaced by Mikhalkov's brother, Andrey Konchalovsky, who agreed to send the film "Burnt by the Sun" to the United States. Thus, Mamin was deprived of the opportunity to win the Oscar.
The members of the Russian Oscar Committee remain under the control of Nikita Mikhalkov, who shapes the politics of Russian cinematography. Therefore, in Mamin's opinion, neither the best nor the most talented films are being submitted to the American Film Academy, but rather the ones created by Mikhalkov's favorite artists. Nikita Mikhalkov is currently Vladimir Putin's cinematography adviser.
The idea of a mystical window, a dimensional portal between Russia and Paris, came to the mind of the Moscow screenwriter Felix Mironer long before Gorbachev's Perestroika. He told this idea to the filmmaker Aleksey German, who sold it 20 years later to Arkady Tigai, Yuri Mamin' co-author, for a bottle of cognac.
"Window to Paris" may be truly called a people's film. It is the most famous of all Yuri Mamin’s works, and is loved by millions of viewers around the world. Many quotations from the film have become folk proverbs.
A tribute to a friend
In 1994, after the death of his friend, film director Viktor Aristov, Yuri Mamin completed Aristov's film "Rains in the Ocean". In that year the film received two awards at the film festival "Kinoshok" for innovative directing and best actress.Stage work: The Kremlin Chimes
In the same year, 1994, Yuri Mamin put on his new play, "Kremlin ChimesKremlin clock
The Kremlin Clock is a historic clock on the Spasskaya Tower of the Moscow Kremlin. The clock dial is above the main gates to Red Square. For decades, the chimes have rung on the quarter hour, with bells tolling for each full hour.- Old clock :...
, or Come to Us After... Many Years", at the Theater on Liteiny in Saint Petersburg. Mamin wrote this play together with Arkady Tigai. In the play there were two Lenins
Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and communist politician who led the October Revolution of 1917. As leader of the Bolsheviks, he headed the Soviet state during its initial years , as it fought to establish control of Russia in the Russian Civil War and worked to create a...
, played with great success by Viktor Sukhorukov and Aleksandr Zhdanov. Perhaps in this play Yuri Mamin wished to return to his youth; "Kremlin Chimes" was abundant with jokes and gags. Dmitry Bykov, a famous writer, journalist and television personality, came twice to Moscow to see this play that he considered "one of the best examples of modern satire," as he remarked in his radio program on City FM.
Moving to television
Mamin's return to the stage was not caused by nostalgia, but by the inability to continue working in cinematography. The government had halted funding the creation of films, and private commercial firms did not support cinema. During this period, movies were shot on cheap, low-grade film, which by international standards would be considered trash.Because of this situation, Yuri Mamin moved to television at the end of 1994 and began hosting educational, humorous, musical and original TV programs such as "From Forte to Piano" and "Chameleon" for the channel RTR. These programs were highly appreciated by artists and became popular among the intelligentsia.
"Gorko!"
In 1997 Mamin was approached by private investors to film a funny, non-satirical, entertaining comedy about weddings.He gathered his closest associates, including Vladimir Vardunas and Arkady Tigai, and together they came up with a screenplay for a film consisting of ten short stories.
The film was released in theaters in 1998, and went on to win the award for best comedy film at the festival "Window to Europe" in Vyborg, Russia.
Grim Tales From Russia
From 2000 to 2003, Yuri Mamin's bright spirit of social activism was embodied in the independent satirical television series "Grim Tales From Russia", which was similar to the American series X-Files, but projected into Russian reality. The producer of the series was Ali Telyakov, a young businessman who had previously worked with Yuri Mamin on other TV programs.The series "Grim Tales From Russia," which totaled eighteen episodes, was shown on the federal channel STS. The series was so radically different from the other projects on the channel that the management could not decide when the series should be shown. Finally, a "wise" solution was found: the series was aired at night when the majority of viewers were sleeping.
However, the population in the Russian regions to the east of Moscow greatly appreciated the originality of "Grim Tales From Russia". Multitudes of fans were troubling the director during the following years with the question: where one can find the full series?
The Saint Petersburg company "Bomba-Piter" released the "Grim Tales From Russia" on DVD in 2009; the series immediately appeared online on pirate websites.
Don't Think About White Monkeys
In 2005, Yuri Mamin’s wife, actress and producer Lyudmila Samokhvalova, and their daughter, Katerina KsenyevaKaterina Ksenyeva
Katerina Ksenyeva is a Russian actress, singer, composer, author and journalist. She is best known as the leading actress in the film Don't Think About White Monkeys and in the TV series Grim Tales From Russia. Her music album "Lullaby for a Man" is noted for its original style and high vocal...
, convinced the distinguished film director to return to the big screen. They found investors who supported his socially critical film "Don’t Think About White Monkeys," written together with Vladimir Vardunas and rendered into verse by the poet Vyacheslav Leikin. The film has a second name, given in the captions: "Chaldean Face."
The financial support for the film was obtained slowly, with long breaks in between; the work stopped for months at a time on more than one occasion. For that reason, the director, as an experienced, skilled worker capable of fulfilling tasks within a tight schedule, had been working on this film for over three years.
However, if not for the financial support of a few honorable people - successful Russian businessmen - the film would never have been finished. Nevertheless, it was completed in 2009 and was successfully shown at a number of film festivals. The film opened in limited release.
Even before its release, the film was fiendishly stolen by criminals who produced pirated DVDs and distributed the film illegally on the internet, thus causing great financial difficulties for the film's sales in Russia. Nevertheless, after having won two prestigious grand prizes at international film festivals in England and Morocco (Rabat), western distributors became interested in the film. It is slated to be dubbed into English by the famous British sound engineer Ray Gillon.
Notably, it will be the first time in the history of cinema that a Russian film in verse will be translated poetically into English verse.
The film premiered successfully in the United States (New York and Minneapolis), France, Portugal, Lithuania, Ukraine, Canada and Germany.
The mystical ballad "Insomnia", sung in the film by the actress Katerina Ksenyeva, is very popular with its listeners.
Yuri Mamin’s film "Don’t Think About White Monkeys" won the first prize at the first ever online film festival, “Double 2”, organized by the Russian Gazette ("Rossiyskaya Gazeta"). During the festival, the competing films were watched in 56 countries all around the world, thus proving that a mindful and soulful film can, indeed, be victorious.
Current activities
Today, Yuri Mamin conducts a master studio for directors of screen entertainment at the Saint Petersburg Institute for Television, Business and Design. He regularly holds professional classes in Russia and abroad.In addition, he is the creator and host of the educational program "House of Culture" on the Saint Petersburg channel TV-100, where he speaks on the defense of citizen rights, about the values of world culture, and about the protection of the environment and of animals in grave danger of extinction in Russia.
Yuri Mamin is a member of the International Tibet Support Network. He is also a member of the Society for the Protection of Animal Rights and is a staunch opponent of hunting.
The TV program "House of Culture" is run in an interactive fashion whereby Yuri Mamin engages in direct discussions with viewers on matters of public concern.
Besides the aforementioned program, Yuri Mamin released the satirical TV journal “Shards” (“Oskolki”). Seven episodes of “Shards” appeared on TV-100 in 2010.
Yuri Mamin has a number of new film projects in the works, including "Window to Paris 201…", "Rockman" and "Dangerous Resemblance".
Awards
- 1982 Award at the Film Festival of Young Cinematograthers in Kiev (I Wish You)
- 1986 Golden Ducat Award at the International Film Festival in Manheim, Germany (Neptune's Holiday)
- 1987 Grand Prize at the International Film Festival in Gabrovo, Bulgaria (Neptune's Holiday)
Grand Prizes at film festivals in Moscow, Kiev and Tbilisi, 1988-1989 (Neptune's Holiday)
- 1988 Grand Prize at the International Film Festival "Golden Duke" in Odessa, Russia (Fountain)
- 1989 Grand Prize at the International Film Festival in Gabrovo, Bulgaria (Fountain)
- 1989 Grand Prize at the International Film Festival in Sanremo, Italy (Fountain)
- 1989 Grand prize at the International Film Festival in Quimper, France (Fountain)
- 1989 Prize for best ensemble cast at the Film Festival “Sozvezdie” (“Constellation”), Russia (Fountain)
- 1990 Grand Prize at the International Film Festival in Belfort, France (Fountain)
- 1990 Grand Prize at the International Film Festival in Las Vegas, United States (Fountain)
- 1990 Grand Prize at the International Film Festival in Tróia, Portugal (Fountain)
- 1990 Chaplin's Golden Cane Award in Vevey, Switzerland (Fountain)
- 1991 Grand Prize at the International Film Festival in Torremolinos, Spain (Fountain)
- 1991 FIPRESCI Award in San Sebastián, Spain (Bakenbardy)
- 1993 Award for directing at the festival "Kinoshock" (Window to Paris)
- 1994 Award at the festival “Kinotavr” (Window to Paris)
- 1994 Grand Prize at the festival "Golden Ostap" (Window to Paris)
- 1994 Audience Award at the International Film Festival in Berlin (Window to Paris)
- 1995 UNESCO prize (Window to Paris)
- 1998 Award for best comedy film at the Vyborg Film Festival ("Gorko!")
- 2008 Jury Award for best Russian film by the International Federation of Film Societies at the International Film Festival in Moscow (Don't Think About White MonkeysDon't Think About White MonkeysDon‘t Think About White Monkeys is a Russian social satirical tragicomedy film directed by Yuri Mamin. The screenplay was written by Yuri Mamin and Vladimir Vardunas, translated into verse by Vyacheslav Leikin....
)
- 2008 Award for innovation in the genre at the film festival "Smile, Russia!”, Russia (Don't Think About White MonkeysDon't Think About White MonkeysDon‘t Think About White Monkeys is a Russian social satirical tragicomedy film directed by Yuri Mamin. The screenplay was written by Yuri Mamin and Vladimir Vardunas, translated into verse by Vyacheslav Leikin....
)
- 2009 Grand Prize at the The End of the Pier International Film Festival, England (Don't Think About White MonkeysDon't Think About White MonkeysDon‘t Think About White Monkeys is a Russian social satirical tragicomedy film directed by Yuri Mamin. The screenplay was written by Yuri Mamin and Vladimir Vardunas, translated into verse by Vyacheslav Leikin....
)
- 2009 Grand Prize at the International Film Festival in Rabat, Morocco (Don't Think About White MonkeysDon't Think About White MonkeysDon‘t Think About White Monkeys is a Russian social satirical tragicomedy film directed by Yuri Mamin. The screenplay was written by Yuri Mamin and Vladimir Vardunas, translated into verse by Vyacheslav Leikin....
)
- 2009 Special Diploma from the jury for best actress to Katerina KsenyevaKaterina KsenyevaKaterina Ksenyeva is a Russian actress, singer, composer, author and journalist. She is best known as the leading actress in the film Don't Think About White Monkeys and in the TV series Grim Tales From Russia. Her music album "Lullaby for a Man" is noted for its original style and high vocal...
at the International Film Festival in Rabat, Morocco (Don't Think About White MonkeysDon't Think About White MonkeysDon‘t Think About White Monkeys is a Russian social satirical tragicomedy film directed by Yuri Mamin. The screenplay was written by Yuri Mamin and Vladimir Vardunas, translated into verse by Vyacheslav Leikin....
)
- 2011 Grand Prize at the Russian Gazette's First International Internet Film Festival “Double 2” (Don't Think About White MonkeysDon't Think About White MonkeysDon‘t Think About White Monkeys is a Russian social satirical tragicomedy film directed by Yuri Mamin. The screenplay was written by Yuri Mamin and Vladimir Vardunas, translated into verse by Vyacheslav Leikin....
)
Quotes
- To me, movies are musical works of art, and I create them according to the laws of music, which is, in essence, the most perfect of all things produced by the human mind and heart. (Yuri Mamin, http://www.fountaincinema.com/index.php?id=film)
- You used to raise builders of communism, now you are raising builders of capitalism, but the product remains the same: a brute, a know-nothing and a thief" (says Nikolai Chizhov, the teacher of music and literature, angrily to the business managers of the lyceum;Window to Paris)
- You were born in a terrible time in a poor, devastated country. But it is your country, after all! Don't you want to make it better? (says the same teacher, Chizhov, to his students on the steps of the Sacré-Cœur Basilica in Paris; Window to Paris)
- Patriotic films may be understood in different ways. It is possible to make colorful trash with a multi-million dollar budget drawn on government funds acquired through an acquaintance with the prime minister. But it is also possible to make something like all Mamin's films: coming from the soul, touching the heart and forcing you to think, without flattery and hypocrisy, sometimes hurtful, somewhat ugly and unpleasant, but always truthful and honest, scathing and passionate, in the spirit of such great artists as Nikolai GogolNikolai GogolNikolai Vasilievich Gogol was a Ukrainian-born Russian dramatist and novelist.Considered by his contemporaries one of the preeminent figures of the natural school of Russian literary realism, later critics have found in Gogol's work a fundamentally romantic sensibility, with strains of Surrealism...
and Mikhail Saltykov-ShchedrinMikhail Saltykov-ShchedrinMikhail Yevgrafovich Saltykov-Shchedrin , better known by his pseudonym Shchedrin , was a major Russian satirist of the 19th century. At one time, after the death of the poet Nikolai Nekrasov, he acted as editor of the well-known Russian magazine, the Otechestvenniye Zapiski, until it was banned by...
, Alexander Pushkin and Vladimir KorolenkoVladimir KorolenkoVladimir Galaktionovich Korolenko was a Ukrainian-Russian short story writer, journalist, human rights activist and humanitarian. His short stories were known for their harsh description of nature based on his experience of exile in Siberia...
, Leo Tolstoi and Maxim GorkyMaxim GorkyAlexei Maximovich Peshkov , primarily known as Maxim Gorky , was a Russian and Soviet author, a founder of the Socialist Realism literary method and a political activist.-Early years:...
. For this one needs to have a pure soul and to be a deeply decent person, citizen and humanist. This is how Yuri Mamin will be remembered in the history of cinematography. http://www.fountaincinema.com/index.php?id=biography
External links
- Website of Yuri Mamin's Fountain Fund
- Website of Yuri Mamin's film "Don't Think About White Monkeys"
- Yuri Mamin's television program “House of Culture”
- Russian Wikipedia about Yuri Mamin