Sergei Vasilyev

Who was Sergei Vasilyev?

Sergei Dmitrievich Vasilyev was a Soviet film director, editor, and screenwriter. From 1928 to 1943 together with Georgi Vasilyev he co-directed several films, including the influential and critically acclaimed Chapaev. Sergei Vasilyev was granted the honorary title of People's Artist of the USSR in 1948; and received two Stalin Prizes in 1941 and 1942.

His 1942 film The Defence of Tsaritsyn concerns the 1918 Battle for Tsaritsyn during the Russian Civil War, a battle in which Joseph Stalin played a prominent role. In 1942, Tsaritsyn, by then renamed Stalingrad, was in the midst of the decisive Battle of Stalingrad, a turning point of the Second World War.