Aleksei Balabanov, Russian director and screenwriter (d. 2013)

Aleksei Oktyabrinovich Balabanov (Russian: Алeксeй Oктябpинoвич Балабанoв; 25 February 1959 – 18 May 2013) was a Russian film director, screenwriter, and producer, a member of European Film Academy. He started from creating mostly arthouse pictures but gained significant mainstream popularity in action crime drama movies Brother (1997) and Brother 2 (2000), both of which starred Sergei Bodrov, Jr. Later, however, Balabanov became better known for his films Cargo 200 (2007), Morphine (2008) and A Stoker (2010).