About the director:

 

Vladimir Motyl (1927–2010) was born in Lepiel, in contemporary Belarus. He was a film director and screenwriter. Motyl and his mother were exiled to the Northern Urals, where he became fascinated by the theater and cinema, and later graduated from the Sverdlovsk Theatrical Institute. For about 10 years he worked in various theaters in the Urals and Siberia. Eventually, despite having no technical qualifications, he directed his first film, “Children of Pamirs” (Дети Памира, 1963) in Tajikistan. This work was met with public success, as well as earning him the State Prize of Tajik SSR (1964), and the title of honorary citizen of Dushanbe (1977). After his first success he was invited to direct “The White Sun of the Desert”.