Mikhail Kukushkin
Directing
Biography
Director, producer. Born in Kurgan in 1976. During his study at university organised the youth video-studio Bridge; on its basis the Kurgan TV Company Region-45 was created, of which Kukushkin became director. In 2005 moved to Moscow; worked as assistant director and second director on TV series. In 2009 graduated from Gherman Sidakov’s School, majoring in direction. The film “Inadequate People” (dir. Roman Karimov, Grand Prix at the Window to Europe festival, 2010) was his debut project as producer. His two following producer’s works participated in the Kinotavr competition: “Into Smithereens” (2011, dir. Roman Karimov) and “Dead Lucky” (2017, dir. Vadim Valiullin). In 2017 released the Russian-American-Spanish film “The Body Tree”, directed by Thomas Dunn.
Known For
A 30-year-old man, Vitaly, moves to Moscow in search of inner peace after struggling with personal and psychological issues. As he settles into a seemingly ordinary life, he forms an unexpected bond with his younger neighbor, forcing him to confront his past and emotional instability.
Inadequate People
A perfect bank heist turns deadly when the robbers and their hostages flee to the abandoned underground subway station where they encounter the Trackman, a deformed madman that prowls the darkness.
Trackman
Kristina lives with Vitaly in a quiet family life, but her sarcastic world view does not coincide with Vitaly’s ideals. While she is engaged in household chores, he spends more and more time at work, and Kristina begins to suspect that this is somehow connected with the appearance of his young assistant Sonya in the office.
Inadequate People 2
A group of Americans travel to Siberia where a friend died stabbed. Soon, they will discover their hosts are involved in the occult.
The Body Tree
Two girls shoot down a cyclist, kill a pedophile, steal a car. A famous DJ gets kidnapped once. A woman invites a boss-lover to a birthday party, and during the party in the house there is a murder. The paths of the heroes of these stories intersect on a country road.
Smithereens
Russia’s answer to U.S. box-office hit “The Social Network”, the movie tells the story of a pair of Moscow students in the mid-90s who create an internet search engine that becomes one of the largest in the world.
Startup
'The perfect killers just met their match'. The young fella is drawn into a criminal gang of his older brother that engaged in assassinations. But when they on the affair, they face a maniac who opens them hunt.
Dead Lucky
Unlucky university teacher Valentin finds an outlet in leading a student film club, where he makes amateur films with young talents. Valentin believes that a bad streak cannot last forever and that he will definitely get lucky someday. Fate favors the unlucky but talented teacher, and Kirill Kyaro agrees to take part in his new film. While Valentin tries his best to grab luck by the tail, the students of the film club grow up, find themselves and make important life discoveries.
Maestro
Tolya Sidorov is a simple worker of early retirement age from some remote place in Russia. Unexpectedly he discovers his artistic talent and becomes a sensation in the world of modern art. And all this because the creation of his masterpieces happens at a very intimate moment... The fame of the unusual artist spreads across the Internet, and even experts from Moscow come to visit an exhibition of Anatoly’s urinary painting. And like in the Russian fairy tale, the hero is miraculously showered with recognition and money. But Tolya prefers to stay incognito, trying to understand whether his work is real art. And the men from the factory would laugh at him if they found out.
The Gift
When medical colleagues determine that an operation for a hopeless patient is incompatible with life, a young shift attendant tries to save him even at the cost of her work.