September 23, 1903
Was born Nadezhda Kosheverova. A filmmaker of fairy tales. Director of "Cinderella," "The Tiger Tamer," and other fairy tales and comedies.
Cinema is like a puppet theater - many people work on the creation of a film, and the viewer sees only what he is supposed to see
She was born in Petersburg, in the family of a 1st guild merchant.
In 1923, she graduated from the acting school at the Petrograd Free Comedy Theater. She later studied at the film workshop of the Eccentric Actor's Factory. At the same time, she attended the Federal Academy of Fine Arts (FEKS). Yanina Zheimo — an actress whom Kosheverova would make the main Soviet Cinderella 20 years later.
Until 1928, she worked as an actress, including at the Leningrad Satire Theatre. Nikolai Akimov. The director became her first husband.
In 1929 she came to Lenfilm. She assisted Kozintsev и Trauberg. In the late 1930s, she began directing films herself, becoming one of the first female film directors. Success came with the lyrical comedy "Arinka." The film "Galya," about the Finnish War, shot in 1940, was never released.
"Cinderella" became the "calling card".
In 1944, returning to Moscow from evacuation, I saw Zheymo. She was sitting in a corner—so small, so confused… I glanced at her and suddenly said, "Yanichka, you must play Cinderella."
The script was written by Evgeny Shvarts — specifically for Zheimo. Creating an atmosphere of fairytale splendor in post-war Leningrad was no easy task—costumes were sewn from tablecloths and curtains, and antique furniture was sourced from acquaintances.
Zheimo was 37 at the time of filming, but the hope that her natural petite frame (she's 148 cm tall, with a size 31 shoe) and childlike eyes would create the right image paid off. Overall, the actors were spot-on in their roles. Just look at Stepmother. Faina Ranevskaya:
Ah, it's a shame the kingdom is so small, there's no room to roam! Oh well! I'll quarrel with the neighbors! I can do that.
Many Soviet film stars appeared in Kosheverova's films: Dahl, Vertinskaya, Mironov, Gurchenko. Boyarsky he recalled that the director never raised her voice: "We haven't heard anything like swearing, let alone even literary swearing."
She passed away in 1989.
