{{Short description|Russian filmmaker (1954–2025)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2025}} {{Infobox person | name = Yuri Kara | native_name = Юрий Кара | native_name_lang = ru | image = Yury Kara.jpg | caption = Kara in 2011 | birth_name = Yuri Viktorovich Kara | birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1954|11|12}} | birth_place = Stalino, Ukrainian SSR, USSR | death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|2025|7|16|1954|11|12}} | death_place = Yalta, Crimea | occupation = {{hlist|Film director|screenwriter|producer}} | years_active = 1982–2015 }}
'''Yuri Viktorovich Kara''' (Russian: Юрий Викторович Кара; 12 November 1954 – 16 July 2025) was a Russian film director, screenwriter and producer.
==Life and career== Yuri Kara was born on 12 November 1954 in Stalino, Ukrainian SSR, USSR, which is now called Donetsk.
After graduating from high school No.17 in Donetsk in 1972, Yuri Kara entered the Physics and Chemistry department of the Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys (MISA).<ref name="КНИГА ВЫПУСКНИКОВ МИСиС, стр. 87">{{Cite web|url=https://misis.ru/Portals/0/Vipusknikam/vipuskniki_1985-1994.pdf|title=Выпускники МИСиС 1985–1994 годы|publisher=МИСиС|access-date=9 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090306093750/https://misis.ru/Portals/0/Vipusknikam/vipuskniki_1985-1994.pdf|archive-date=6 March 2009}}</ref> During his studies, he was the head of the institute's vocal and instrumental ensemble. In 1978, he graduated from the MISA with a degree in physics of metals. He then worked as a radio physics engineer in Donetsk.
In 1982, he entered the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography, where he worked with film director Sergei Gerasimov and actress Tamara Makarova. He graduated in 1987 with a thesis film Tomorrow Was the War based on the story written by the Russian author Boris Vasilyev. The picture was sold in 48 countries.
Yuri Kara became known in Russia with his movies Barons of Crime (1988) and The Feasts of Belshazzar, or a Night with Stalin (1990), and with his conflict with the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roskosmos) which was caused by his film ''Korolev'', based on the novel ''Cassandra's Brand'' written by the Russian author Chinghiz Aitmatov. Roskosmos did not allow that actor Vladimir Steklov would really go into space for the film.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aif.ru/archive/1685297|publisher=Argumenty i Fakty|title=Юрий Кара собирается в космос|date=11 December 2006}}</ref>
In 1994, Yuri Kara became internationally known for the controversies surrounding his film The Master and Margarita. Although the film was made in 1994, it was only premiered in the Russian cinemas on 7 April 2011. Despite the highest budget ever spent on a Russian film and the impressive cast with the most famous Russian actors, the producers decided not to release it. According to them, Yuri Kara's director's cut was unacceptable.<ref>[http://www.masterandmargarita.eu/en/05media/filmkara.html The Master and Margarita website].</ref> Nevertheless, the soundtrack composed by Alfred Schnittke was released on CD. On 15 November 2010, the Russian film distributor Luxor announced out of the blue that they had bought the rights on Kara's film, and that it would be released in March 2011. Eventually, it would be 7 April 2011.<ref>[http://www.kino-teatr.ru/kino/movie/ros/3753/annot/ Кино Театр (Kino Teatr)], Russian Film Encyclopaedia, lemma Мастер и Маргарита.</ref>
Kara continued making big budget films like ''Korolev'' (2007), ''Reporters'' (2008; video) and ''Hamlet. XXI Century'' (2010).
Kara died in Yalta on 16 July 2025, at the age of 70.<ref>{{Cite web |date=17 July 2025 |title=Ушёл из жизни режиссер Юрий Кара |url=https://www.interfax.ru/culture/1036646 |website=interfax.ru |language=ru}}</ref> The cause of death was a massive heart attack.<ref>{{Cite web |date=17 July 2025 |title=Причиной смерти режиссёра Юрия Кары стал инфаркт |url=https://www.1tv.ru/news/2025-07-17/515493-prichinoy_smerti_rezhissera_yuriya_kary_stal_infarkt|website=Channel One|language=ru}}</ref>
== Political position == Yuri Kara signed the petition of support of Putin's actions in Ukraine and Crimea in 2014.<ref>[http://mkrf.ru/press-tsentr/novosti/ministerstvo/deyateli-kultury-rossii-v-podderzhku-pozitsii-prezidenta-po-ukraine-i-krymu Деятели культуры России — в поддержку позиции Президента по Украине и Крыму] {{in lang|ru}}. Ministry of Culture of Russian Federation. March 2014</ref>
He called for the Russian government to officially recognize the Donetsk People's Republic (he was a native of Donetsk).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://mianews.ru/ru/2016/09/03/kulturnaya-elita-rf-rossiya-dolzhna-priznat-dnr-i-lnr/ |title=Культурная элита РФ: Россия должна признать ДНР и ЛНР|website=mianews.ru |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161104034554/http://mianews.ru/ru/2016/09/03/kulturnaya-elita-rf-rossiya-dolzhna-priznat-dnr-i-lnr/ |archive-date=4 November 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.novorosinform.org/news/59992 |title=Российский режиссер Юрий Кара призывает Москву признать ДНР и ЛНР - Новороссия |access-date=2 November 2016 |archive-date=7 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160907114136/https://www.novorosinform.org/news/59992 |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://ifvremya.ru/kyltyrnaia-elita-rf-rossiia-doljna-priznat-dnr-i-lnr-molodejnoe-informacionnoe-agentstvo-novorossiia/ |title=Культурная элита РФ: Россия должна признать ДНР и ЛНР|access-date=2 November 2016 |archive-date=4 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161104000240/http://ifvremya.ru/kyltyrnaia-elita-rf-rossiia-doljna-priznat-dnr-i-lnr-molodejnoe-informacionnoe-agentstvo-novorossiia/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>
==Filmography== *1986 – ''Two on a Bench'' *1987 – ''Tomorrow Was the War'' *1988 – ''Barons of Crime''<ref name="kinot1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.kino-teatr.ru/kino/art/kino/281/|title=Завтра был шлягер|publisher=Кино-театр.ру|access-date=9 December 2019|archive-date=9 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191209061544/https://www.kino-teatr.ru/kino/art/kino/281/|url-status=live}}</ref> *1989 – ''The Feast of Belshazzar, or a Night with Stalin'' *1994 – ''The Master and Margarita'' *2001 – ''I'm a Doll'' *2002 – ''King of the Cage'' *2002 – ''Interesting Men'' *2005 – ''The Star of an Epoch (Loving you is like a Disaster)'' *2007 – ''Korolev'' *2008 – ''Reporters'' *2009 – ''Hamlet. XXI Century'' *2015 – ''Main''
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category|Yuri Kara}} * {{IMDb name|nm0438671}} * {{in lang|en}} [http://www.kinokultura.com/2010/30r-hamlet21.shtml ''Hamlet 21st Century'' on ''Kinokultura''] * {{cite web|url = http://world-shake.ru/en/Encyclopaedia/4379.html |title = Kara Yuri Viktorovich |author = Gaydin B. N. |year = 2012 |publisher = The World of Shakespeare: An Electronic Encyclopaedia |access-date = 26 November 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160303220251/http://world-shake.ru/en/Encyclopaedia/4379.html |url-status = live | archive-date = 3 March 2016 }}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kara, Yuri}} Category:1954 births Category:2025 deaths Category:Soviet film directors Category:National University of Science and Technology MISiS alumni Category:Russian film directors Category:Honored Workers of the Arts Industry of the Russian Federation Category:Recipients of the Medal of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 2nd class Category:Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography alumni Category:Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Category:Soviet male screenwriters Category:Soviet screenwriters Category:Russian male screenwriters Category:Russian film producers Category:Burials at Troyekurovskoye Cemetery