Kantemir Balagov

Born in Nalchik, the cap­i­tal of the Repub­lic of Kabardi­no-Balka­ria, Kan­temir Bal­agov won in 2017 the FIPRESCI Prize in the Un Cer­tain Regard sec­tion of the Cannes Film Fes­ti­val for his fea­ture debut, Close­ness. Two years lat­er, his sec­ond film Bean­pole, a his­tor­i­cal dra­ma set in post-war Leningrad, earned him the FIPRESCI Prize once again, as well as the Best Direc­tor Award. The film was also short­list­ed for the Acad­e­my Award­for Best Inter­na­tion­al Fea­ture Film. But­ter­fly Jam is his first Eng­lish-lan­guage feature.