Nepedia
Back to Discover
Advanced Reader
🎨

Ivan Okhlobystin

arts Maturity 5-7 religion Next article →

This article covers sensitive topics: religion. Parents can manage visibility in Parental Controls.

Ivan Ivanovich Okhlobystin is a versatile figure in Russian culture. He works as an actor, director, and screenwriter. He has also served as a Russian Orthodox priest. His career spans many different fields, including cinema, theater, and even business. He currently serves as the creative director for the company Baon.

Okhlobystin was born on July 22, 1966. He was born in the Polenovo recreation center in the Tula Oblast. His father, Ivan Ivanovich Okhlobystin, was a military doctor. His father had served in World War II and was 62 years old at the time of Ivan's birth. His mother, Albina Ivanovna Stavitskaya, was a 19-year-old student studying to be an engineer-economist. The family later moved to Moscow, where Ivan began his professional training.

His path to cinema involved formal study at VGIK. This is the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography, a famous film school. He studied in the directing faculty alongside many future leaders of Russian cinema. These classmates included figures like Fyodor Bondarchuk and Tigran Keosayan. Okhlobystin's education was interrupted when he was drafted into the army. He served in the rocket forces located in Rostov-on-Don. After his military service, he returned to the institute. He finally graduated from the directing department in 1992.

Okhlobystin's professional career began in the early 1990s. In 1991, he acted in the film "The Leg" by Nikita Tyagunov. For this role, he received a best actor prize at the "Molodost-1991" festival. At that time, he used the pseudonym Ivan Chuzhoy. He later made his feature directorial debut with the film "Arbiter." This film won a Kinotavr award in the "Films for the Elect" category. He also wrote the screenplay for the cult film "Demobbed" in 2000. This script was co-written with director Roman Kachanov. The story drew on Okhlobystin's own experiences in the army.

His life includes a significant period of religious service. Following a religious conversion, he became a Russian Orthodox priest. However, his work in the film industry caused conflict with the church. In February 2010, Patriarch Kirill removed him from the priesthood. This action banned him from wearing priestly vestments or a cross. The church stated his film roles were unworthy of priestly dignity. Despite this, he resumed his entertainment career later that same year.

Okhlobystin is also a controversial political figure. In September 2011, he announced a plan to run for President of Russia in 2012. He proposed doing this through the "Sky Coalition." He eventually gave up this idea due to the opinion of the Russian Orthodox Church. He has expressed strong nationalist views. In 2012, he claimed he would one day become the President of a new Russian Empire. He has also expressed views that have led to sanctions and bans. For example, he is banned from entering Ukraine, Latvia, and Estonia. In June 2024, the European Union applied sanctions against him.

His filmography is quite large and includes many different types of work. He has acted in films such as "Tsar" (2009) and the series "Interns" (2010–2016). He also performs voice acting for animated films. He provided the Russian voice for the character Rattlesnake Jake in "Rango" (2011). He also voiced the King in several "Ivan Tsarevich and the Gray Wolf" films. In his personal life, he has been married to actress Oksana Okhlobystina since 1995. They have six children together. His life remains a complex mix of art, religion, and politics.

577 words

Where will your curiosity go next?

Keep exploring at your chosen reading level.

More to explore

What is Nepedia?

A free, ad-free encyclopedia for children. Every article is written at five reading levels, so the same page works for a five-year-old and a fifteen-year-old — use the level switcher above to see this one change. No account needed to read.