Kantemir Balagov was born in Nalchik, Russia, in 1991. He graduated from Alexander Sokurov’s directing workshop at Kabardino-Balkarian State University in 2015. During his studies, he made several fiction and documentary films, which were selected for domestic and international festivals. He made his directorial debut in 2017 with Closeness, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in Un Certain Regard and was awarded the FIPRESCI prize and won two prizes including Best Debut for himself at the Russian Guild of Film Critics White Elephant Awards. His second feature, Beanpole, set in Leningrad in the immediate aftermath of WWII, was selected once more to screen at the Cannes Film Festival and was once again awarded the FIPRESCI Prize. Balagov also won Best Directing in Un Certain Regard. The film was Russia’s official submission for the Best International Feature Film Academy Award® and received his first APSA nominations for Best Feature Film and Best Screenplay.
The Asia Pacific Screen Academy expresses its respect for and acknowledgement of the South East Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. We pay our respects to the Traditional Owners of country, including the custodial communities on whose land works are created and celebrated by the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. We acknowledge the continuing connection to land, waters and communities. We also pay our respects to Elders, past and present. We recognise the integral role Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and First Nations peoples continue to play in storytelling and celebration spaces.
