Born in 1942 in Sverdlovsk. Studied at the philological faculty of the historical-philological department of Irkutsk University. In 1969 he graduated from the directing faculty of VGIK (the workshop of I. Talankin).
Before studying at VGIK he worked as a cameraman at the Irkutsk TV studio and as a schoolteacher.
In 1972 he came to work at Lenfilm.