Upon graduation from
Moscow Lomonosov University in 1955 and the
Gorky Institute of World Literature in 1958, Askoldov worked as an administrator for the USSR Ministry of Culture and for Goskino’s Main Department of Feature Film Production, where he was the supervisor for the Gorky Studio for Children’s and Youth Films. Askoldov then studied film direction with
Leonid Trauberg at the Supreme Courses for Screenwriters and Directors (VKSR), graduating in 1966. He directed his first and only film,
Commissar (1967). The film was banned for more than 20 years. Its banning, caused by dissatisfaction by the authorities with his "party" direction, and his refusal to change certain aspects pertaining to characterisation in the film (which they requested), put an end to his career as a director in the USSR. Mordyukova and Bykov, major Soviet movie stars, had to plead with the authorities to spare him of even bigger charges. The film was shelved by
Goskino for twenty years. In 1986, due to
glasnost policies, the "Conflict Commission" of the Soviet Film-makers Union recommended the re-release of the movie but Goskino refused to act. After a plea from Askoldov at the
Moscow Film Festival, when the
dissolution of the Soviet Union was imminent, the film was reconstructed and finally released in 1988. The film won the
Silver Bear - Special Jury Prize at the
38th Berlin International Film Festival in 1988, and four professional
Nika Awards (1988). ==References==