Dimitri Kirsanoff

Dimitri Kirsanoff Russian Димитрий Кирсанов was an early filmmaker considered part of the French Impressionist movement in film He is known for his inexpensively made experimental films Kirsanoff was born Markus David Sussmanovitch Kaplan in Tartu then Juryev Estonia then Russian Empire in 1899 to Lithuanian Jewish parents In the early 1920s he moved to Paris and became involved in cinema through playing cello in the orchestra at showings He began making films on his own and never worked with a production company Kirsanoff was at the forefront of Parisian avantgarde filmmaking thanks to works such as Ménilmontant 1926 which combined soviet style montage with handheld camerawork and lyrically composed static shots Kirsanoffs early silent films many starring his first wife Nadia Sibirskaia are considered his best works With the coming of sound the quality of his output declined though he continued to direct commercial ventures into the 1950s He was married to the actress Nadia Sibirskaïa who starred in several of his early films His second marriage was to editor Monique Kirsanoff