Pavel Kostomarov

Directing

Pavel Kostomarov

Born 1975-11-22 · Moscow, USSR (Russia)

Pavel Viktorovich Kostomarov (Russian: Па́вел Ви́кторович Костома́ров; born November 22, 1975, Moscow) is a Russian cinematographer, feature, documentary and TV director. Winner of the Laurel Award (2004 and 2007), the White Elephant Award (2007), the Silver Bear Prize for Outstanding Artistic Achievements at the Berlin International Film Festival (2010), the Golden Eagle Award (2011). In 1991, Pavel graduated from the biology class at school No. 523 in Moscow. After graduating from school, he first studied to be an ichthyologist, but his love for photography led him to the VGIK camera department, which he graduated from in 2002. While still a student , he began working with director Sergei Loznitsa on documentaries: "Way Station" (2000), "Settlement" (2001), "Portrait" (2002). Soon, at one of the European film festivals, I met Antoine Cattin, a Swiss cinematographer, director and future co-author. In 2003, on the set of "Landscape" with Loznitsa, a case brought a talkative trucker Valera to the same hotel in Okulovka. It was Kattin who insisted on making a Transformer movie out of it later. The union continued with the documentaries "Peaceful Life" (2004), "Mother" (2007), which received many festival awards (in Anapa, Yekaterinburg, Moscow; in Argentina, Poland, Finland) and awards — "Laurel", "White Elephant". For ten years, Antoine Kattin and Pavel Kostomarov filmed director Alexei German during his work on the "History of the Arkanar Massacre", which resulted in the film "Playback" in 2012. In collaboration with documentary filmmaker Alexander Rastorguev in Rostov-on-Don, he made documentaries "I love you" (2010) and "I don't love you" (2012). Together with NTV presenter Alexey Pivovarov and documentarian Alexander Rastorguev, he created the Internet project "Term" in 2012. In December 2012, together with NTV host Alexey Pivovarov and Alexander Rastorguev, he launched a large-scale documentary project "Reality"[10]. Together with them and other co-authors: Antoine Kattin, Susanna Barangieva and Dmitry Kubasov, Pavel Kostomarov conducted casting and looked for potential heroes of the project. In addition to documentaries, Pavel continued to make feature films with Alexey Popogrebsky ("Simple Things", "How I spent this summer"), with Boris Khlebnikov (the short story "The Saving Tunnel" from the movie almanac "There is no hurry", "Until the Night Separates", "A Long Happy Life"). Shortly after February 24, 2022, he left Russia. He lives in Argentina.

Acting credits

Behind the camera

My Friend Boris Nemtsov poster
NR

An intimate portrait of Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov — once Deputy Prime Minister and “an heir of President Yeltsin”, later an uncompromising adversary of Putin — that was assassinated near the Kremlin in February 2015. Election campaigns and hotel beds, protest rallies and office routine, train compartments and courtrooms, night walks and police vans – you have never seen any politician so close. This is a story how a journalist assignment turns into a genuine friendship.

My Friend Boris Nemtsov

2015

The Term. Beginning of a Big Story poster
4.2

The documentary project The Term was conceived in May 2012. When the directing trio commenced mapping the Russian sociopolitical landscape, Vladimir Putin had just settled into the Kremlin for his third term. The original experimental format of “documentary bulletins,” which were published daily online, allowed for wide-ranging content; in the feature film version, however, the filmmakers focused solely on the members of various opposition groups. Nevertheless, the work’s neutral position remains and viewers have to interpret the objectively presented situations for themselves. The main characteristics of this strongly authentic movie include close contact with the protagonists, precise editing, and an effectively controlled release of information.

The Term. Beginning of a Big Story

2014

The Term. Beginning of a Big Story poster
4.2

The documentary project The Term was conceived in May 2012. When the directing trio commenced mapping the Russian sociopolitical landscape, Vladimir Putin had just settled into the Kremlin for his third term. The original experimental format of “documentary bulletins,” which were published daily online, allowed for wide-ranging content; in the feature film version, however, the filmmakers focused solely on the members of various opposition groups. Nevertheless, the work’s neutral position remains and viewers have to interpret the objectively presented situations for themselves. The main characteristics of this strongly authentic movie include close contact with the protagonists, precise editing, and an effectively controlled release of information.

The Term. Beginning of a Big Story

2014

White Mama poster
9.0

Аlina Makarova is a mother of six of her own children and one adopted child. Her ex husband is from Ethiopia, and all her own children are mixed race. Only her adopted son is white, but he has serious health problems and is psychologically unstable. Alina's older children realise what complications the adoption might bring and are afraid that there won't be enough room, time and love for everyone. But she convinces them that it's the right thing.

White Mama

2018

I Love You poster
5.4

These are the stories of the three guys,three friends, living in a city in the south of Russia. In the course of a year they recorded their everyday lives with a small HDcam. This record is what comprises the movie and to what it is dedicated. Our heroes are eighteen years old and they live average lives: work, have parties and, fall in love. But finally they will have to make those most important of personal choices which will define their future.

I Love You

2011

I Love You poster
5.4

These are the stories of the three guys,three friends, living in a city in the south of Russia. In the course of a year they recorded their everyday lives with a small HDcam. This record is what comprises the movie and to what it is dedicated. Our heroes are eighteen years old and they live average lives: work, have parties and, fall in love. But finally they will have to make those most important of personal choices which will define their future.

I Love You

2011

I Don't Love You poster
6.8

A youth comedy about the tragedy of the first love. An experiment in the area of the film language. REC, accidentally pressed in the middle of a fight. Jealosies, breakups, reunions. A few bedroom scenes, shot with a home camera. Cries and whispers of the urban outskirts. The audience of the film are both Bergman fans and YouTube viewers.

I Don't Love You

2012

I Don't Love You poster
6.8

A youth comedy about the tragedy of the first love. An experiment in the area of the film language. REC, accidentally pressed in the middle of a fight. Jealosies, breakups, reunions. A few bedroom scenes, shot with a home camera. Cries and whispers of the urban outskirts. The audience of the film are both Bergman fans and YouTube viewers.

I Don't Love You

2012

No artwork available
6.0

The film chronicles everyday struggle of a Russian woman for “ordinary” happiness of her family.

The Mother

2007

No artwork available
6.0

The film chronicles everyday struggle of a Russian woman for “ordinary” happiness of her family.

The Mother

2007

These poster
NR

The film is about Alexey Popogrebsky's film "How I spent this summer". In the film, there are no tedious reflections of the actors and the director about their film against the background of posters of the same film. But there is life itself, real, unmasked, and, despite the sea of comicality, it makes you horrified at how the Russian film process can take place…

These

2012

Playback poster
NR

A portrait of the Russian filmmaker Alexei Guerman via an exploration of the making of his latest film, an adaptation of It Is Difficult to Be a God, a science-fiction novel by the Strougaski brothers, on which he has been working for several years, Hard to Be God explores the director's complex relationships with his crew, who he rules with a rod of iron. The film exposes the power relations of authority and the submission of a film crew to a director who is trying to change history, fight servitude and advocate freedom.

Playback

2012

Peaceful Life poster
7.0

The dramatic story of two Chechens, father and son, living in a remote northern village. During the Chechen war, the Sultan's wife was killed, his house was destroyed. Now he and his son Apti are trying to build a new peaceful life. They are completely disconnected from their usual environment and are forced to work hard without any hope of getting used to a strange and extremely unattractive world for them.

Peaceful Life

2004

Vongozero: The Outbreak poster
7.0

A deadly virus of unknown origin has decimated Moscow. Sergey, along with his girlfriend and their autistic son are joined by his exwife, their son and several fellows to escape the quarantine zone lest they suffer a slow and painful death. Somewhere far away, on a desert island in Karelia, there is a cabin- their only chance to start all over again. But the journey will not be an easy one as the deadly virus and interpersonal conflict threaten to pull the group apart.

Vongozero: The Outbreak

2019

No artwork available
4.5

On the road between Moscow and Saint Petersburg, two lorry drivers are waiting for help after an accident. But the wait proves to be a long one.

Transformator

2003

Bansu poster
NR

The film is based on a true story that happened in Alaska in summer, 1943. Soviet pilot crew is flying new American bomber from the USA to the USSR under lend-lease& The pilot lands at an air base in the town of Nome for refueling only to find out that his partner has disappeared in the middle of the flight. Navigator cockpit is open, and the navigator himself has vanished into the thin air. Soviet and American intelligence do not believe in supernatural power, especially since the solder's missing parachute pack has valuable intelligence data. Recon teams of the two rival countries set out to search it in the depth of Alaska forest, however, soon another mysterious player joins the game, an aleut deity called Bansu.

Bansu

Bansu poster
NR

The film is based on a true story that happened in Alaska in summer, 1943. Soviet pilot crew is flying new American bomber from the USA to the USSR under lend-lease& The pilot lands at an air base in the town of Nome for refueling only to find out that his partner has disappeared in the middle of the flight. Navigator cockpit is open, and the navigator himself has vanished into the thin air. Soviet and American intelligence do not believe in supernatural power, especially since the solder's missing parachute pack has valuable intelligence data. Recon teams of the two rival countries set out to search it in the depth of Alaska forest, however, soon another mysterious player joins the game, an aleut deity called Bansu.

Bansu

Two Together poster
NR

A film about the Ukrainian artist Vladimir Loboda and his wife Lyudmila.

Two Together

2009