Aleksandr Sokurov

Biography

Aleksandr Sokurov (born June 14, 1951) is a Russian director of avant-garde and independent films that have won him international acclaim. Described as a heir to Tarkovsky, spare, gloomy and contemplative, he often blurs lines between image and world. His noticable trademark and style includes long, accurate shots of real painterly compositions, disorted field of view, zooms and use of wide angle lenses. Often plotless with emphasis on aesthetics and impressionism his films are noted for philosophical approach to history and nature. Sokurov underlines the importance of film, not to yield to the modern audience laziness, and to stay away from mere entertainment. His most significant works include a feature film, Russian Ark (2002), filmed in a single unedited shot, Mother and Son (1997) and Faust (2011), which was honoured with the Golden Lion, the highest prize for the best film at the Venice Film Festival.

Known For

The Story of Film: An Odyssey

Russian Ark

Agnès Varda: From Here to There

Voice of Sokurov

Francofonia

Naum. Predictions

VGIK: Teachers and Students Talk About the Profession

You Should Survive

All Movies (37)

• Naum. Predictions2026 · as self
• Director's Diary2025 · as Self
• Voices in the Old Walls2019
• Francofonia2015 · as (voice)
• Voice of Sokurov2014 · as Himself
• The Romanovs: Glory and Fall of the Czars2013 · as Himself - Filmmaker
• Film about the film2013 · as himself
• Alexander Sokurov. Temptation2012
• Agnès Varda: From Here to There2011 · as Self
• We Need Happiness2010 · as Narrator (voice)
• The Art of Time2009 · as Self
• Elegy of a Voyage2009 · as The Traveler (uncredited)
• Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Lightning strikes a tall tree2008 · as Self
• Alexander Sokurov: Questions about cinema2008 · as Himself
• Sokurov2006 · as himself
• Elegy of Life: Rostropovich, Vishnevskaya2006 · as Himself
• In One Breath: Alexander Sokurov's Russian Ark2003 · as Himself
• Kira2003 · as Self
• Islands. Alexander Sokurov2003
• Russian Ark2002 · as The Time Traveller (voice / uncredited)
• The Knot1998 · as Self
• Petersburg Diary: Kozintsev's Apartment1998 · as рассказчик, озвучка, в титрах не указан
• The Diary of St. Petersburg: Kozintsev's Flat1998
• The Diary of St. Petersburg: Inauguration of the Monument to Dostoevsky1997 · as (voice)
• Robert. A Fortunate Life1997 · as Narrator
• Edward Shelganov visiting Sokurov1997
• Oriental Elegy1996 · as Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
• A Soldier's Dream1995
• An Example of Intonation1991 · as Self
• Simple Elegy1990
• Leningrad Retrospective1990
• Soviet Elegy1989 · as Narrator (voice)
• Petersburg Elegy1989 · as Narrator
• Moscow Elegy1987 · as Narrator (voice)
• And Nothing More1987 · as narrator (voice)
• You Should Survive1981
• VGIK: Teachers and Students Talk About the Profession1979

All TV Shows (3)

• Agnès Varda: From Here to There2011 · as Self
• The Story of Film: An Odyssey2011 · as Self
• Matussek trifft2010 · as Self