Zhora Kryzhovnikov is one of the non-trivial Russian directors and screenwriters of our time. He became known to a wide audience after the release of the comedy "Bitter!" Critics immediately called him a "modernist filmmaker." Prior to that, he shot short films and entertainment programs, including "Big Difference" and New Year's "Lights".
Biography: early years
Zhora Kryzhovnikov was born on February 14, 1979 in Sarov, near Nizhny Novgorod. Previously, this closed city was called Arzamas-16. Zhora Kryzhovnikov is a creative pseudonym. Real name and surname - Andrey Pershin.
Zhora spent his childhood and early youth in Sarov. Life in this city left a certain imprint on his subsequent work. So, Kryzhovnikov very accurately conveyed the spirit and color of the hinterland in his top comedies "Bitter" and "The Best Day".
After graduating from high school, Zhora moved to Moscow. In the capital, he entered the Moscow Art Theater School. However, he was soon expelled from there. This did not upset Zhora at all. The next year, he became a student in the directing department of GITIS, entering the studio of Mark Zakharov. Kryzhovnikov still remembers his teacher with great respect. In one of the interviews, he noted that Mark Zakharov was a great master for him and only thanks to him he realized that his place was in the director's chair, and not on the stage or in the frame.
After GITIS, Zhora continued his education at VGIK. He entered the production department. Kryzhovnikov began to comprehend the basics and subtleties of producing under the direction of Alexander Akopov. However, he never graduated from the faculty, because at that time he had already begun to work a lot in his specialty.
Career
In 2006, Kryzhovnikov tried himself on the theatrical stage as a stage director. His debut was the play "Measure for Measure" at the ApARTe Theater. It was based on a Shakespearean play. In the same year, Kryzhovnikov directed the production of Bachelor Moliere at the School of the Modern Play. Critics noted that the simplicity of the performance "became sophistication." The brevity and defenselessness of the first works would later become Kryzhovnikov's signature style.
A financial crisis followed in 2008. Many theaters cut their budgets, and for this reason, new productions were abandoned. In an interview, Kryzhovnikov recalled that at that time he did not have any job for about a year.
In 2010, he gave up the theater. Kryzhovnikov traded him for television. His last theatrical work was the play "An Old Friend is Better" based on Ostrovsky's play. Critics then praised this production well, noting that the young director "blinded the premiere from improvised modern material."
In the period from 2010 to 2013, Zhora worked as a director of television programs, mainly of an entertainment nature. He has collaborated with various channels. Kryzhovnikov directed such popular projects as Superstar, Hipsters Show, Valera TV, Olivier Show.
Despite the good fees, Zhora continued to dream of cinema. Of particular interest to Kryzhovnikov was the American cinema of the 40-50s. In particular, the work of Raoul Walsh, Alfred Hitchcock, John Huston and John Ford.
In 2009 he released his first short film titled "Dragon Abas Blue". This was followed by Kazrop, Pushkin's Duel, Happy Purchase and The Curse. At that time, Zhora was sympathetic to the jump-cut. This is the name of a technique in cinema, which is characterized by an abrupt, eye-cutting insertion during editing. He first used the jump cut in his short film The Curse. Zhora repeated this technique in "Bitter!" and in subsequent full meters.
The film debut took place in 2013. He was noticed in the famous Bazelevs studio, at the helm of which is Timur Bekmambetov himself. He appreciated Zhora's short films and invited him as a director for the film "Bitter!"Kryzhovnikov also wrote a script for him. The film made a splash in the Russian box office. Its creators planned to raise a cash register of 200 million rubles. The film ended up bringing in four times that amount, making it the most unexpected and powerful box-office breakthrough of 2013. Kryzhovnikov explained the success of the picture by the freshness of the idea. In an interview, he noted that in "Bitter!" something was done that had never been done in Russian cinema.
In the wake of success, it was decided to shoot the second part. It was directed by Kryzhovnikov again. The film “Bitter! 2”was released in 2014. This time the comedy turned out to be "black", since the plot was not about the wedding, but about the funeral. The main roles were played by the same actors, including Yulia Aleksandrova, Yan Tsapnik, Sergei Svetlakov.
In the same year, Zhora made another short film called "Inadvertently". A year later, the comedy "The Best Day" with Dmitry Nagiyev in the title role was released. She was also successful.
In 2017, Zhora was one of the directors of the sixth part of the popular New Year's franchise "New Fir Trees". His wife Julia Alexandrova appeared in the film, playing the role of a pregnant Snow Maiden.
In 2018, Zhora began work on the painting "Error 102". It will hit the big screens in 2019.
Personal life
Zhora Kryzhovnikov is married to actress Yulia Alexandrova. He met her at the theater. Julia was casting for a role in one of the plays directed by Zhora. A romance began between them, which soon grew into a marriage. In 2010, the couple had a daughter, Vera.
Subsequently, Zhora directed his wife in all three of his feature films. Julia played the main roles everywhere.
