Winner of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film for that film in 1980, Menshov was also an actor, screenwriter and producer.

In total, he directed 11 films and played different roles in about 100 motion pictures and television productions. He received the most important cultural decorations granted by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).

‘We have lost our dear friend, our colleague from Mosfilm, who gave the studios all his creative strength and great talent,’ the press release from the Moscow-based film studios said.

On his death, Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said Monday that Russian President Vladimir Putin ‘expresses his deepest condolences.’

In 1979, Menshov impressed cinema lovers with the film Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears, one of the most optimistic and hopeful stories in Soviet and world cinema.

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