Soviet and Russian-Armenian filmmaker, producer and writer, Karen Shakhnazarov made his debut in 1975 with Shire shag, maestro!. He is the current Chairman of Mosfilm, one of the largest and oldest film studios in the Russian Federation. Over the years Shakhnazarov has directed movies like Jazzman (1983), Zimniy vecher v Gagrakh (1985), Courier (1986), Zerograd (1988), Assassin of the Tsar (1991), The Rider Named Death (2004), Vanished Empire (2008), Ward No. 6 (2009), Belyy tigr (2012) and Anna Karenina Vronskys Story (2017). He also directed the TV series, Anna Karenina (2017).