Andrei Andrejewitsch Eschpai

Andrei Andreyevich Eshpai (Russian: Андре́й Андре́евич Эшпа́й , born 18 April 1956, Moscow, Russia) is a (Russian and Soviet) film director, screenwriter and producer of Mari descent.

He is the son of the composer Andrei Yakovlevich Eshpai, and the grandson of the composer Yakov Andreyevich Eshpai. He has a wife – actress Yevgeniya Simonova, a daughter – Mariya Eshpai and stepdaughter – actress Zoya Kaidanovskaya (daughter of Yevgeniya Simonova and her first husband – actor Aleksandr Kaidanovsky).

He studied at the Moscow State Institute of Culture in 1975-76 graduated from the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography in 1980.