Andrei Nekrasov

(1958) dares to risk his neck as a Russian film maker with critical documentaries and films on tricky political issues in his native country. His documentary Russian Lessons on the one-sided news coverage of the Russo-Georgian war in 2008 earned him the title Man of the Year 2009 in Georgia. Owing to the sharp criticism expressed on the Russian government and the army the film could only be shown in Russia to friends from the opposition. His film Rebellion, the Litvinenko Case from 2007 is a indictment against the Russian state security service FSB, who have been behind various bomb attacks and hijackings, allegedly carried out in order to keep Putin in the saddle. Nekrasov did various film and cultural studies in Russia, Paris and Bristol. In 1985 he was Andrej Tarkovsky’s right hand man in the shooting and editing of Sacrifice (Offret). Subsequently he made a number of documentaries and tv programmes. His first short from 1993, Springing Lenin, won the UNESCO prize in Cannes. The long feature following it, Love is as Strong as Death, won prizes too. Nekrasov is also a playwright and works as a stage director.