Vladimir Menshov, Russia’s Oscar-winning film director, died on Monday at the age of 81 after testing positive for coronavirus.
Menshov, who won an Oscar for a best foreign picture in 1981, died as a consequence of complications with Covid-19, according to a statement from Moscow film studios, Mosfilm.
“We knew he had Covid-19, but just in a mild version. It’s both horrifying and surprising “AFP quoted film director Vladimir Khotinenko as saying.
“His passing leaves a big void in our shared cultural environment,” Khotinenko remarked.
Vladimir Menshov’s death, according to Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, is a “great loss for our film and our culture.”
Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesperson, said Russian President Vladimir Putin “expresses his heartfelt sympathies.”
Vladimir Menshovwas born in Baku, then the capital of Soviet Azerbaijan, in 1939.
He started as an actor and later as a filmmaker, and his film “Moscow Doesn’t Believe in Tears” won the Oscar for the best foreign picture in 1981.
It was one of just two Soviet films to receive an Academy Award, the other being “War and Peace.”
Menshov was well-known in Russia for his 1984 comedy “Love and Pigeons,” which is now one of the most-watched films on Russian television.
Vladimir Menshov, who directed ten films, was a directing instructor at VGIK.
