Draft:Arseny Gonchukov

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Arseniy Gonchukov
Арсений Михайлович Гончуков
Born	March 19, 1979 Nizhny Novgorod, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Occupation(s)	Film director, screenwriter, poet, writer
Years active	2009–present
Website	https://gonchukov.ru

Arseniy Mikhailovich Gonchukov ((Russian: Арсений Михайлович Гончуков, born March 19, 1979) is a Russian independent film director, screenwriter, poet, and writer. He is a member of the Union of Cinematographers of the Russian Federation and the Guild of Film Directors of Russia.

Biography

Gonchukov graduated from the Faculty of Philology at Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod. He later studied film directing at the Higher School of Economics under Anna Fenchenko and Nikolay Khomeriki, and currently continues his studies at the Moscow School of New Cinema with Dmitry Mamuliya and Mikhail Ignatenko.

He has directed several feature films, short films, and web series. In addition to his work in cinema, he is also active in literature, having published works in Russian literary magazines and released poetry collections.

Feature Films

• 2011 – Final Stop – Screenwriter, director, producer
• 2012 – 1210 – Screenwriter, director, producer
• 2013 – Flight. Three Days After the Catastrophe – Screenwriter, director
• 2014 – Son – Screenwriter, director
• 2015 – The Last Night – Screenwriter, director
• 2024 – Devil's Stone – Director
• 2025 – Inside the Spider – Screenwriter, director

Series

• 2015 – Dark District. Chronicles of Everyday Evil – Internet series; creator, director, producer, screenwriter
• 2017 – Russia in Blood – Documentary web series; director, co-writer, editor

Documentary Films

No.	Year	Title	Notes
1	2009	Czechoslovakia, '68. Brotherly Invasion	39 min; Zvezda TV; screenwriter and host
2	2009	Tibet. Mysteries of the World's Summit	39 min; Zvezda TV; screenwriter
3	2009	The Four Deaths of Valery Chkalov	39 min; Zvezda TV; co-writer
4	2009	Super Drivers	39 min; Zvezda TV; screenwriter and host
5	2009	The Central Military Orchestra	39 min; Zvezda TV; screenwriter and host
6	2010	Love on the Front Line. Marshal Bagramyan	52 min; Channel One Russia; co-writer
7	2010	Operation Weiss. How World War II Began	52 min; Russia TV; screenwriter
8	2010	Hunting the Postmen	39 min; Zvezda TV; screenwriter and host
9	2010	Russian Spirit. Chronicles of '93	52 min; screenwriter and director
10	2011	And There Was No Better Brother… The Vayner Brothers	52 min; Channel One Russia; co-writer

Philosophy

Gonchukov describes himself as an auteur and independent filmmaker. In a statement published on Echo of Moscow, he wrote: “For me, the meaning of directing is to shoot something real and worthwhile. Cinema. Let's not forget that cinematography is, above all, an art.”

Literary Activity

Gonchukov is the author of several poetry collections, including Desperate Christmas (2006) and Not Cinema (2024). He is also the founder and organizer of the international literary festival "Literaterra". His works have been published in numerous Russian literary journals and newspapers, such as Literaturnaya Gazeta, Vozdukh, Druzhba Narodov, Litperron, Znamya, Novy Mir, and others.

In his own words, Gonchukov draws inspiration from literary figures such as Marina Tsvetaeva, Vladimir Mayakovsky, Joseph Brodsky, Alexander Bashlachev, and Yanka Dyagileva: “A kind of cocktail. But to me, this is sincere poetry and its great heights.” He also contributes to various collections of short stories, both individual and collaborative.

Dramaturgy and Screenwriting

In 2009, his play The Exes became a laureate of the contemporary drama competition "Lyubimovka". Stage readings were held at Theatre.doc and the Meyerhold Center. The play was later published in the journal Sovremennaya Dramaturgiya.

In 2012, his feature-length screenplay You Don’t Die from Love was shortlisted by the journal Iskusstvo Kino (The Art of Cinema).

Books

Gonchukov's first book, the poetry collection Desperate Christmas, was published under the pseudonym Arseniy Goncharov by the Nizhny Novgorod publisher Dyatlovi Gory in 2006.

In 2019, his first non-fiction book, How to Make a Film Without Money, was released by Eksmo under the Bombora series.

In 2023, his next book, Proof of Humanity, was published by AST in the "Other Reality" series. The novel comprises seventeen futuristic novellas exploring themes of artificial intelligence, digital immortality, and the ethical dilemmas faced by humanity in a technologically advanced world.

Awards

Gonchukov has received more than 20 awards from Russian and international film festivals. Among them are the Grand Prix of the “Window to Europe” festival, the Grand Prix of the national film award “Strana”, the Grand Prix of the “Kinoprizyv” film award, the Best Actor award at the “Kinoshock” festival, and the Best Director award at the 4th Delhi International Film Festival. He also won second prize in the “Best Feature Film” category at the Baghdad International Film Festival, and received a special award at the first Russian web series festival for “Contribution to the Development of Web Series”. He was awarded a diploma “For addressing painful issues in society” at the “St. Anna” festival, and also received awards from the West Virginia Mountaineer Short Film Festival and others.

His film Inside the Spider won awards for Best Film, Best Director, Best Lead Actor, and Best Makeup at the Hollywood Blood Horror Festival (Los Angeles, USA) and the Experimental Brasil Film Festival.

Participation in Film Festivals

Gonchukov's works have been screened at film festivals in France, Canada, Germany, the Czech Republic, Poland, the United States, Iraq, and India. These include the Cannes Film Festival, the 77th Montreal World Film Festival, Phoenix Film Festival Melbourne, Toronto World International Film Festival, Delhi International Film Festival, Kerala International Film Festival, Chacun son Court, Ten Festiwal Kijow-Warszawa, the 34th Moscow International Film Festival, among others.

Critical Reception

Renowned Russian film critic Anton Dolin commented on Gonchukov's film Son on the radio program “Vesti FM”:

“The main prize of the jury, chaired by producer Igor Tolstunov, was awarded to Arseniy Gonchukov’s film Son. Firstly, Son is a surprisingly coherent and conceptual film for Russia — a country traditionally full of compromises, where filmmakers constantly try to please everyone — the audience, critics, festivals, colleagues, and cultural institutions. But here, there are no compromises. A slow, yet captivating black-and-white drama — a psychological portrait of a quiet young man who cares for his terminally ill mother and is willing to do anything to help her recover — even when it seems impossible. For a truly loving son, that does not matter. The film balances love with melancholy and existential anxiety that stays with both the viewer and the protagonist until the tragic end. It’s a very European type of film, built from recognizably Russian material. A rare bird. Secondly — and no less importantly — the film was made in an almost guerrilla style, without approvals from institutions or the usual pandering to sponsors and producers. Gonchukov has been making films for a while, and although Son is not his first, it may become the starting point of his recognized career. He made it with his own money and the support of friends — cheaply or for free — but exactly as he envisioned. This is truly directorial, deeply auteur cinema. Even if the film were ten times worse, it would still deserve admiration. This may not be a universal model — independent directors must also make a living — but it is an antidote to the conformism plaguing many debuts. Be honest, and your audience will come. It is no coincidence that the prize was awarded by Tolstunov himself — a producer known for his blockbusters.”

Writer Zakhar Prilepin highly praised Gonchukov’s poetry in 2007:

“For me, Arseniy Gonchukov is above all a poet… For anyone who has ever felt the joy of reading poetry, I strongly recommend his book. Arseniy deserves success — because he is open (even torn open at the ribs), he is energetic (dangerously so), and, finally, he is talented.”

In 2008, Prilepin reaffirmed his opinion:

“Gonchukov writes ragged, inside-out, bleeding, disturbing texts that verge on being outside literature. But they are so authentic, so inherently valuable, crafted with such animal instinct, that literature must stretch its generous wings and urgently embrace this primal, astonishing phenomenon, and warm it with its life-giving light.”

One of Russia’s most respected film scholars, Irina Graschenkova, commented positively on Gonchukov’s work:

“I found Arseniy Gonchukov’s film Son interesting. He is a peculiar person, already making his fourth or fifth film. All the actors are his friends; he doesn’t pay them. He writes the scripts himself, composes the music, and does the editing. But this is not a film shot in someone's garage.”

According to prominent Russian film critic and encyclopedist Sergey Kudryavtsev, author of 5000 Films: Reviews Over 50 Years, Gonchukov’s film Flight. Three Days After the Crash is among the best Russian and Russian-language films of the past 25 years (rated 7 out of 10).

External links

• Personal page
• IMDb profile

This page will be placed in the following categories if it is moved to the article namespace.

Categories:

• Living people
• 1979 births