Alexei Popogrebsky Director
Filmography Selected
Alexei Popogrebsky was born in 1972 in Moscow into the family of screenwriter Pyotr Popogrebsky. Alexei graduated from Moscow State University with a degree in psychology.
In 1994 he teamed up with his friend, Boris Khlebnikov, a film theory student at VGIK, to make two short films. After a few shorts, they finalized their debut feature, Koktebel (2003), which showed at many festivals, including the Forum section of the Berlin Film Festival. It received numerous awards. Alexei and Boris then went on to work independently, collaborating with producer Roman Borisevich under the Koktebel Film Company marquee. How I ended this Summer is Alexei Popogrebsky's latest film.
2003 KOKTEBEL (KOKTEBEL)
(with Boris Khlebnikov)
Silver St. George - Moscow IFF 2003
Philipp Morris Award - Karlovy Vary IFF 2003
Golden Lily Award - goEast film festival, Wiesbaden 2004
FIPRESCI Discovery of the Year - Cannes 2004
2007 PROSTYE VESHCHI (SIMPLE THINGS)
Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor – Open Russian FF Kinotavr, Sochi 2007
Best Actor, FIPRESCI and Ecumenical Jury Awards - Karlovy Vary IFF 2007
Best Feature, Best Actor - Festival d'Angers Premiers Plans 2008
Best Script – Golden Eagle Russian Film Academy Awards 2008
Best Script – Nika Russian Film Academy Awards 2008
2010 KAK YA PROVEL ETIM LETOM (HOW I ENDED THIS SUMMER)
★★★★★
A terrific film…as the stunning closing time-lapse image reminds us, a picture of solitude, of life as it is really lived at the end of the world.”
Jonathan Romney THE INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY
FILM OF THE WEEK
Cast adrift to live life on the edge…An award-winning tale of two meteorologists isolated on a remote Arctic island is a tense allegory of modern Russia”
Philip French THE OBSERVER
★★★★
“Winner of the Berlin film festival Silver Bear, beautifully shot…superbly acted two-man drama…a gripping, involving and wonderfully acted piece of work”
Peter Bradshaw THE GUARDIAN
★★★★
A masterpiece of slow-building tension.
Jenny McCartney THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH
★★★★
“Slow-burning, visually stunning…Superbly acted and photographed, this is pure cinema”
Wendy Ide THE TIMES
★★★★
A Tarkovskian parable about nuclear horror which also functions as a sustained, nail-biting psychological thriller…about trust, fraying communications, wilderness survival tactics.
Deceit and paranoia escalate…a hungry polar bear and contaminated trout up the stakes…a surrogate father-son relationship that’s just gone haywire”
Tim Robey THE DAILY TELEGRAPH
★★★★
“Part psychological thriller, part a paean to the beauty and remoteness of its setting…shot by cinematographer Pavel Kostamarov with rare and atmospheric skill…The director is an exceptional filmmaker”
Derek Malcolm THE EVENING STANDARD
★★★★
This terrific film...
Antonia Quirke THE FINANCIAL TIMES
★★★★
“Remarkable drama...Memorable”
‘Rich in resonance, the story can be read partly as a brutal coming-of-age story, with the two men as a surrogate father-son duo; as a quasi-religious ordeal in which Danilov must go through earthly hell to redeem himself...but the film also works as a nail-biting yarn, a tale of extraordinary endurance.’
Jonathan Romney, SCREEN INTERNATIONAL
‘... a terrific exploration of human fragility....Popogrebsky is shaping up into one of Russia's most talented, distinctive and potentially exportable directors’Leslie Felperin,
VARIETY
“An extraordinary evocation … inside the Arctic Circle…the cinematography is striking”
“A gripping psychological drama.”
Derek Malcolm, THE EVENING STANDARD
“Part vice-like psycho-thriller, part action-adventure, part gorgeous-looking art film”
Sheila Johnston,THE TELEGRAPH
‘An elemental cat-and-mouse psychodrama set in the frozen north, by one of Russia’s brightest new talents’
Ian Christie, SIGHT & SOUND
‘A gripping narrative’
‘The only film at this year’s Berlin Film Festival that came anywhere near mattering as an adventure in cinema and in the concrete world.’
‘A magnificent adventure in outward-bound filmmaking in the Flaherty/Herzog tradition of Actualy Going There.’
SIGHT & SOUND
“A taut psychological drama set against a striking polar landscape”.
‘ Subtle, compelling performances…striking cinematography and well-chosen music. ‘
‘Highly original, and with a unique atmosphere and sense of place, this is a memorable and deeply affecting work.’
‘A taut psychological drama made all the more gripping by the isolation and desolation of its setting.
Sandra Hebron, LFF2010
“Beautifully shot on an isolated Russian arctic island”
Carmen Gray, DAZED & CONFUSED
Read Interview with Alexei Popogrebsky in Dazed & Confused
“An excellent work…hypnotic…magic”
Howard Feinstein, FILMMAKER MAGAZINE