Kirill Serebrennikov

Russian director and screenwriter Kirill Serebrennikov studied physics in his home country. In parallel with his studies, he trained himself in directing for theater, opera, and cinema. He directed his first feature film Razdetyye in 1994, followed by Ragin (2004) and Bed Stories (2005). Serebrennikov’s breakthrough came with Playing the Victim (2006), which won the Best Film Award at the Rome Film Festival. Further recognition quickly followed: Yuri’s Day (2008) won a Special Mention of the Ecumenical Jury , the Don Quixote Award, and the Youth Jury Award at the Locarno Film Festival. The Student (2016) won the Un Certain Regard Prize at the Festival de Cannes. Dedicated to rock music, Summer (2018) was also selected for Cannes, where it won acclaim from critics and audiences alike. He returned to Cannes with Petrov’s Flu (2021), Tchaikovsky’s Wife (2022), and Limonov: the Ballad (2024), all of which were selected for the Official Competition. Alongside his works for cinema, Serebrennikov has also directed and produced numerous plays, dramas, ballets, and operas at prestigious venues including the Komische Oper Berlin, the Mariinsky Theater, the Bolshoi Theater, the Opéra national de Paris, and the Deutsches Theater Berlin. His most recent production, The Black Monk (2023), opened the Festival d’Avignon, at the illustrious Palais des Papes. Alongside his many accolades, Serebrennikov was named a Commander of the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2018.