Mikhail Kalatozov

December 28, 1903 – March 27, 1973

Tiflis, Russian Empire [now Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia]

Mikhail Kalatozishvili (28 December 1903 – 27 March 1973; alternately known as Mikhail Kalatozov) was a Georgian film director best known for his films The Cranes Are Flying (1957) and Soy Cuba (1964). The former won the Palme d'Or at the 1958 Cannes Film Festival. In 1969, he received the People's Artist of the USSR accolade. Kalatozov studied economics and changed many professions before starting his career as an actor and later — as a cinematographer. He directed several documentaries, including Their Kingdom (1928, with Nutsa Gogoberidze, the first Georgian female director) and Salt for Svanetia (1930). In 1933, Kalatozov enrolled to the Russian State Institute of Performing Arts. Three years later, he oversaw Kartuli Pilmi, then he was suggested a place at the USSR State Committee for Cinematography. In 1939, he moved to Leningrad to work at Lenfilm as a director. During World War II, he made several propaganda films and worked as a cultural attaché at the Soviet embassy in the United States.