Aleksei Oktyabrinovich Balabanov (; 25 February 1959 – 18 May 2013) was a Russian
film director,
screenwriter, and
producer, who shot mostly
arthouse pictures, but gained
mainstream popularity with the crime drama
Brat (
Brother) and its more
action-oriented sequel,
Brat-2 (
Brother 2), both of which starred
Sergei Bodrov, Jr. as a novice hit man.
Brother was successful both at the box office and in video copies, achieving wide popularity in Russia. Later, however, Balabanov became better known for his shocking and controversial films
Cargo 200 (2007) and
Morphine (2008).