Shukshin Vasily Makarovich (1929 – 1974), Russian Soviet prose writer, playwright, film director and film actor. He was born in 25 July 1929 in Srostki village of Biysk District in Altai Region in peasant’s family. He worked in collective farm in the village, after that he worked at a factory in the Central Russia. In 1949-1952 served in the navy. After returning he worked as a head in evening school. In 1954 he entered a film direction department in All-Russian State Institute of Cinematography. During the years of studying his group mates were such famous film directors as Alexandr Tarkovsky and Andrey Mikhalkov-Konchalovsky.

Being a student he began to act in films, after finishing the institute he shot a film according to his own scenario. The film “There Is Such a Lad” got the higher award of the Venetian International Cinema Festival – “Golden Lion of St. Mark”. A great success had such films as “Your Son and Brother”, “Call Me To The Light Far”, “Strange People”, “Pechki-Lavochki”. Speaking about the film “The Red Snowball Tree”, it was shot by Shukshin according to the narrative with the same name written in 1973. Shukshin’s cinematographic services were awarded with the prize of Vasilyevs brothers, the State prize of the USSR and the award of Lenin (posthumously).