In 1974, he graduated from the Faculty of Philology of the Ust-Kamenogorsk Pedagogical Institute with a degree in "Teacher of Russian Language and Literature." In 1978, he entered the Scriptwriting Faculty of the All-Union State Institute of Cinematography (VGIK), from which he successfully graduated in 1982 (under the tutelage of E.V. Gabrilovich, L.V. Golubkina, S.L. Lungin, and I.V. Vaisfeld). He began his career in 1974 as a school teacher in the village of Katon-Karagai. From 1974 to 197 ...