Film director, scriptwriter, teacher, producer
People’s Artist of the Russian Federation, laureate of the State Prizes of the RSFSR and the Russian Federation, the RF Government Prize, the Golden Eagle National Film Award
Six-time winner of the Nika Award
One of the founders and Artistic Advisor of School-Studio SHAR
Born on 30 November 1939, in Moscow, to Yuri Borisovich Khrzhanovsky, artist and performer, and Vera Mikhailovna Khrzhanovskaya (née Berlinskaya).
Married to Maria Froimovna Neiman, philologist. His son Ilya Andreevich Khrzhanovsky is a film director, scriptwriter, and producer.
In 1962, Andrey Khrzhanovsky graduated from Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography (Lev Kuleshov and Aleksandra Khokhlova´s workshop). His thesis film was titled Once Upon a Time There Lived Kozyavin (1966).
Among his directorial works are Glass Harmonica (1968), as well as the Pushkiniana series – animated films based on the works of Aleksandr Pushkin: In the World of Fables (1973), A Wonderful Day (1975); a trilogy based on the works of Pushkin “I Fly To You As a Remembrance…” (1977), “And I Am With You Again…” (1980), and Autumn (1982). In 1987, they were combined into a feature-length film My Favourite Time.
For his Pushkin trilogy, the director (together with composer Alfred Schnittke) was awarded the State Prize of the RSFSR.
Other films by Khrzhanovsky include The Lion with the White Beard (1995), The Long Journey (based on drawings by F. Fellini (1997)), with Tonino Guerra as scriptwriter; and A Cat and a Half (2002) based on the works and biography of the Nobel Prize-awarded poet Joseph Brodsky. Subsequently, the idea was developed in the feature-length film A Room and a Half (2009). All four films were recognised with Nika Film Awards, as well as various awards at other international and domestic film festivals.
In 1988-1990, Khrzhanovsky was the head of Poisk – a creative association within Soyuzmultfilm Studio – and a member of the Artistic Council of the studio.
Since 1982, Khrzhanovsky taught at Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography (VGIK) and was Head of the Department of Animated Film Direction. In 1993, together with Eduard Nazarov, Yuri Norshteyn, and Fyodor Khitruk, he established School-Studio SHAR in order to train young directors and animators. At SHAR, Khrzhanovsky holds the positions of Artistic Advisor and Chairman of the Board of Founders; he also teaches directing.
Khrzhanovsky is the author of the books The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. A Book about Erast Garin (2004), Yuri Khrzhanovsky. Paintings. Album (2007), Alfred Schnittke. Articles, Interviews. Memories of the Composer (2010), Tonight We Came to Shpalikov. Memories, Diaries, Letters, the Last Script (2018).
In 2020, Khrzhanovsky released a feature-length animated film The Nose, Or the Conspiracy of Mavericks and a book of memoirs titled My Dear Ones… My Darlings….
Khrzhanovsky is one of the authors and editors of Chao, Tonino!, a book of memoirs about the great scriptwriter, poet, and artist Tonino Guerra.