Vladimir Yakovlevich Motyl was born in 1927 in Soviet Union (now Belorussia), in the family of a Polish emigrant, who died in Solovki, the most famous Russian corrective labor camp. Motyl became fascinated in the theatre and cinema in Northern Urals, where he was exiled with the remaining family after his father’s death. In 1948 he graduated from the Sverdlovsk Theatrical Institute and worked for following 10 years as the director and actor in various theatres in Urals and Siberia. In 1955 he became the director of Sverdlovsk Young Spectator’s Theatre and in 1957 he graduated from the Historical Faculty at the Sverdlovks’ University and started to work in film without technical qualifacation. His directorial debut “Children of Pamir” (1963), produced in Tajikistan became a great public success and earned him many awards. His next film “Eugene, Little Eugene and Katyusha” (1967), a romantic comedy/drama produced in Lenfilm in 1967, put him into disfavor of Soviet authorities for “disrespectful” treatment of the Great Patriotic War theme. Nevertheless, in 1969 he was invited to direct a film, which’s made Motyl famous till today and became one of the most popular Eastern (Red Western) – “The White Sun of the Desert” (1970). “The Captivating Star of Happiness” (1975), story of the women’s unfathomable sacrifice and the dogged desire to be reunited with the men they love, despite the conditions and the circumstances has been dedicated to all the women. Beside directing, Vladimir Motyl has been also writing the scripts.
Source : www.seagullfilms.com