”Extraordinary personality and exceptionally gifted person, you are an acknowledged cinema maestro,” Dmitry Medvedev’s telegram said. “Your films, each married with scale and depth, have received prestigious Russian and foreign awards.”

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said that every Nikita Mikhalkov film becomes a big event in Russian cinematography and evokes genuine interest among spectators.

On Thursday, the Russian president has also signed a decree which bestows on Mikhalkov one of the most prestigious state orders.

Nikita Mikhalkov is a famous Russian film director and actor. He is the son of the poet Sergei Mikhalkov, who wrote several versions of the lyrics for the National Anthem, twice for the Soviet Union and once more for the modern Russian Federation. Like his father, Nikita Mikhalkov served faithfully to the Communist authorities and to the rulers of modern Russia.

He became known at the age of 18 after his role in a film “Step through Moscow”. Other works of the Soviet period included films based upon Russian 19th century literature classics, films about the civil war and about everyday life of the Soviet People. After the breakup of the Soviet Union, Mikhalkov made several films openly glorifying monarchism and criticizing Stalinism.

Mikhalkov has been heading the Russian Cinematographers’ Union since 1998. In 2009 he created and headed the Russian Union of Copyright Holders, the organizations that caused heated public discussion after authorities ordered that all resellers of audio and video hardware and blank media must pay one percent of their turnover to this organization.

Among his international awards are the Venice Film Festival’s Golden Lion for his film “Urga” (1991), Cannes Film Festival Grand Prix and the Best Foreign Film Oscar for “Burnt by the Sun”(1994).