Aleksandr Sokurov

Known for: Russian Ark (2002); the Power Tetralogy

Aleksandr Sokurov worked in the shadow of Tarkovsky — whom he knew personally — while developing a radically different cinema of distorted lenses, muted color, and historical consciousness. Russian Ark (2002) was the first feature film shot in a single, uninterrupted take, moving through 33 rooms of the Hermitage Museum with 2,000 actors and three live orchestras. His Power Tetralogy — films about Hitler, Lenin, Hirohito, and Napoleon — examines the psychology of dictatorship.