Kantemir Balagov
Kantemir was born in Nalchik, Russia, in a family, unrelated to cinematography. Since childhood, Kantemir watched a lot of mainstream movies, and at the age of 18 began to create his own small videos. Then, together with friends in Nalchik, he shot an Internet series with episodes of 10 minutes each. He didn't originally plan to pursue a career of a filmmaker, but decided to apply for the cinema workshop, led by Alexander Sokurov at the Kabardino-Balkarian University. During his studies he made several fiction and documentary films. Some of Balagov’s short films were shown at the 67th Locarno Film Festival. In 2017, he made his debut as a director with the feature film Closeness in the program Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival, where he received the prize FIPRESCI. In 2019, Balagov received the Cannes Best Director Award and FIPRESCI prize for the film Beanpole, which was presented in the program Un Certain Regard.
Closeness (2017)
1998, Nalchik. A Jewish family is in trouble: the youngest son and his bride do not come home, and in the morning, a ransom note arrives. The ransom is so high that the family is forced not only to sell its small business, but also to seek help from its fellow ... (more)
1998, Nalchik. A Jewish family is in trouble: the youngest son and his bride do not come home, and in the morning, a ransom note arrives. The ransom is so high that the family is forced not only to sell its small business, but also to seek help from its fellow ... (more)
Beanpole
(2019)
Set in post-WWII Leningrad as two female soldiers return from war and attempt to rebuild their lives in the ravaged city. (more)
Set in post-WWII Leningrad as two female soldiers return from war and attempt to rebuild their lives in the ravaged city. (more)
Army (2014)
Academic work of 4th courses of training of Kabardino-Balkarian State University (Alexander Sokurov's workshop). (more)
Academic work of 4th courses of training of Kabardino-Balkarian State University (Alexander Sokurov's workshop). (more)
A story of teenager who's trying to find himself (more)
Andryukha (2015)
Portrait of a young man with a difficult fate. Despite the inherent mental illness, the film's hero earns money for his drinking mother and sister. (more)
Portrait of a young man with a difficult fate. Despite the inherent mental illness, the film's hero earns money for his drinking mother and sister. (more)
Still Young (2015)
The story of Dante, a graduate of the philological faculty who works on the railroad, pins the tracks to the railroad ties with a terrible noise, and then falls in love with a deaf-mute girl. (more)
The story of Dante, a graduate of the philological faculty who works on the railroad, pins the tracks to the railroad ties with a terrible noise, and then falls in love with a deaf-mute girl. (more)
Antigone (2015)
Diploma work of the Kabardino-Balkar State University (Alexander Sokurov's workshop) (more)
Diploma work of the Kabardino-Balkar State University (Alexander Sokurov's workshop) (more)
Butterfly Jam
It tells the story of a complex relationship between father and son, in which the son imbues his father with qualities he doesn’t actually possess (more)
It tells the story of a complex relationship between father and son, in which the son imbues his father with qualities he doesn’t actually possess (more)