Maslennikov, Igor Fyodorovich (October 26, 1931, Nizhny Novgorod — September 17, 2022, Saint Petersburg) was a Soviet and Russian film director, screenwriter, and educator; People's Artist of the RSFSR (1987) and laureate of the State Prize of the Russian Federation (2001). Born in Nizhny Novgorod, he spent most of his life and creative career in Leningrad — Saint Petersburg. He gained wide fame for the television series "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson" and the melodramatic trilogy "Winter Cherry."[1][2]
Nizhny Novgorod Roots
Igor Maslennikov was born in Nizhny Novgorod into the family of engineer Fyodor Pavlovich Maslennikov and Yekaterina Vasilyevna Ilyina.[2] His ancestors included peasants, nobles, and workers; both grandfathers were connected with technical production: one worked in a smithy, the other in a locomotive-building shop.[3] His father was an engineer at the Krasnoye Sormovo Plant, from which he was transferred to the Izhora Plant near Leningrad, and the family moved to Kolpino even before the war.[3] During the Great Patriotic War, the family was evacuated to the Urals, and his father was sent to Chelyabinsk, where he headed a design bureau producing T-34 tanks.[3] After returning to Leningrad, the Maslennikovs lived for about two years in the home of the family of the actor Vasily Merkuryev — the artistic atmosphere of that house, in the director's own words, laid the foundations of his aesthetic outlook.[2][3] In 1949, Igor graduated from school in Leningrad.[4]
The Path to Cinema
In 1954, Maslennikov graduated from the Faculty of Philology (journalism department) of Leningrad State University.[1][4] After university he worked at the newspaper "Leningradsky Universitet," then at Leningrad Television as an editor, screenwriter, artist, and author-cameraman; from 1963 to 1965 he held the post of editor-in-chief of literary and drama programming.[1] At the television station he was the first to use photographic backdrops and experimented with handheld camera shooting.[2] After a Party reprimand over the television film "I Am a Taxi Driver" in 1964, he decided to change professions.[2] In 1967 he graduated from the Higher Directing Courses at the Lenfilm studio, in the workshop of Grigory Kozintsev; his diploma work was the film "The Personal Life of Valentin Kuzyaev" (with the participation of director Ilya Averbakh).[1][4]
Career
Since 1967, Maslennikov has been a director at the Lenfilm studio.[1] In 1979, the first television film of the series "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson" was released, starring Vasily Livanov and Vitaly Solomin; according to the director himself, he was initially skeptical of Conan Doyle's prose, yet his adaptation became the canonical one for Soviet audiences.[2] In 1985, the melodrama "Winter Cherry" was released, drawing 32 million viewers; an eight-episode television version and sequels were subsequently made.[2][4]
From 1987, Maslennikov headed the Third Creative Association of Lenfilm; from 1990 he was president of the Troitsky Most studio (Saint Petersburg), which he led for more than twenty years.[1][3] In 1999–2000 he made a ten-episode adaptation of Joanna Chmielewska's novel "What the Dead Man Said," and in 2000–2001 the series "Memories of Sherlock Holmes."[4] In 2002 the feature film "Letters to Elsa" was released; it won the Golden Peacock prize at the International Film Festival in Delhi and the Film Directors' Guild prize at the Stalker festival; the actress Alla Demidova was honored at Kinotavr for her role in the film.[4] In 2005 he made an adaptation of Alexander Ostrovsky's play "Wolves and Sheep" under the title "Russian Money," which won audience choice awards at festivals in Gatchina and Svetlogorsk.[4]
Teaching and public activity
In 1990, at the Constituent Congress of the Union of Cinematographers of Russia, Maslennikov was elected its first chairman; from June 1999 to January 2004 he served as First Secretary of the Union.[1][4] From 1996 he headed the feature film directing workshop at the Saint Petersburg University of Film and Television; from 2002 he led a directing workshop at VGIK.[1] He was an academician of the Russian Academy of Cinematic Arts and the Eurasian Academy of Television and Radio, and a professor.[1] In 2006 he completed his memoirs "Baker Street on the Petrogradskaya Side"; in 2016 his theoretical book "The Practice of Cinema: Film or Digital" was published.[2]
The 2001 State Prize of the Russian Federation in literature and the arts was awarded to him for his personal contribution to the development of Russian television film — for creating the series "Winter Cherry," "What the Dead Man Said," and "Memories of Sherlock Holmes."[4] In 2004 he was awarded the Order of Honor.[4] Igor Fyodorovich Maslennikov died on September 17, 2022, in Saint Petersburg and was buried at the city's Northern Cemetery.[2]
Sources
- lenfilm.ru — Maslennikov Igor Fyodorovich
- rus.team — Maslennikov Igor Fyodorovich — Film Director — Biography
- dates.pr-cbs.ru — Memorable Dates of the Petrogradskaya Side. Maslennikov Igor Fyodorovich
- 221b.ru — = 221b.ru = Biographies > MASLENNIKOV Igor Fyodorovich