Avdotya Smirnova — Director | Biography, Movies & Career

Biography

Avdotya (Dunya ) Andreevna Smirnova (Russian: Авдотья (Дуня) Андреевна Смирнова; born 29 June 1969; Moscow) is a Russian film director, screenwriter, producer, TV host and literary critic, winner of numerous awards and accolades, founder of the charity foundation Vikhod. She is a daughter of famous Soviet-Russian director and actor Andrei Smirnov.

Avdotya Smirnova was born in Moscow, to actors Natalya Rudnaya and Andrei Smirnov. Her grandfather Sergey Smirnov was a Soviet writer and historian. Smirnova has been interested in cinema since childhood. When her father forbade her to enter Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography, she went to MSU Philology Department. After three years she transferred to GITIS, but didn’t finish her studies. In 1987-88, Smirnova worked at Mosfilm with Sergei Solovyov, in the meantime performing in punk-rock band Tupie and contributing to Urlait samizdat magazine. At the age of 20, Smirnova married Arkady Ippolitov and moved to Leningrad with him. Several years later, in 1995, she was invited to Kommersant and emerged as a journalist, she contributed to Afisha, Vogue, Seans, and other magazines. For some time in the early 2000s she worked as a speechwriter for Union of Right Forces and Anatoly Chubais.

In 2002-2014 Smirnova co-hosted The School for Scandal with her long-time friend, Russian writer Tatyana Tolstaya. The program received TEFI award in 2003 in Best Talk Show nomination. Smirnova wrote her first screenplay in 1992. Together with Alexei Uchitel she created The Last Hero (Russian movie) about Kino leader Viktor Tsoi. In 1993, she wrote the Butterfly documentary, also in collaboration with Uchitel. In 1995, Gisele's Mania based on Smirnova’s screenplay was released. In 2000, Alexey Uchitel released His Wife's Diary based on Smirnova's screenplay. Smirnova was awarded at The Hartley-Merrill International Screening Competition. Other movies written by Smirnova are The Stroll (2003), The Connection (2006), Gloss (2007), Fathers and Sons (2008), 9th of May: Personal Perspective. All films met mostly positive responses both by critics and the public.

The Connection, released in 2006, became Smirnova's first experience as a director. Her comedy drama Two Days (2011) collected many awards but was much criticized for romanticizing the state officials as one of the protagonists and main hero in the movie was running for governor's post. In parallel with Smirnova's real life marriage to a top-ranking state official, critics perceived the film as an attempt to whitewash the image of the government employees. In 2012, she released Kokoko, a movie co-written with Anna Parmas and directed by Smirnova. The tragicomedy about a Russian museum worker brought its main actress Anna Mikhalkova the Best Prize for acting at Kinotavr 2012 and numerous accolades for Smirnova. In 2016, Smirnova became one of the directors of the Peterburg: only by love cinema almanac, a so-called love letter in a movie form to the cultural capital of Russia. In 2018, Smirnova released The Story of a Single Purpose. The script is based on a true story that happened to 38-years old Leo Tolstoy. In 2021, Smirnova released Vertinsky — an 8-series film about prominent Russian chansonnier Alexander Vertinsky.