Born in 1951 in the city of Podorvikha, Russia. His work, even as a student, was accused of formalism and of assuming anti-Soviet views. His first feature, The Lonely Human Voice (1978) was refused as a graduating project by the VGIK, the Russian Cinema Institute. He had a retrospective of 33 of his films at 26th Mostra, in 2022, when he also released the first book in Portuguese about his work, Aleksandr Sokúrov, by publishing house Cosac Naify. Among his most important films are Mother and Son (1997), Moloch (1999), Dolce (1999), Taurus (2001), Elegy of a Voyage (2001), The Russian Ark (2002), Father and Son (2003), The Sun (2005), Alexandra (2007), Faust (2011, winner of Golden Lion at Venice Film Festival) and Francofonia (2015).
