Russian director from 1911, former actor. Fled Russia during the post-Revolution civil war and worked for a time in France. Returned in 1924 to direct his most famous film, the pioneering science fiction Aelita, the Queen of Mars (1924). Unlike many of his peers, he had a fondness for lighter subjects, from romantic melodramas to Oriental escapism, such as Adventures in Bokhara (1943).
Biography in: John Wakeman, editor. "World Film Directors, Volume One,
1890-1945". Pages 898-902. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company,
1987.