ROSTOV-ON-DON, August 2. /TASS/. Russian film director Alexander Rastorguev, who was killed in the Central African Republic (CAR), became the winner of the Laurel Branch award posthumously for his contribution to cinematography, the documentary festival organizers reported on their web site.

"On July 31, we learnt about the tragic death of our friend and one of the most talented film makers of our time Alexander Rastorguev. These days the award council had to determine the 2018 winner for contribution to cinematography. The council, which consists of 11 leading documentary makers, unanimously decided to posthumously grant this award to Alexander Rastorguev," the report says.

The awarding ceremony will take place on December 12 on the closing day of the international documentary film festival Artdocfest. Rastorguev was the many-time winner of the award: in 2001, his film "Mommies" was declared the best full-length nonfiction television film, and in 2005 "Tender's Heat. Wild Wild Beach" was awarded in the Best Nonfiction Art Film nomination.

On July 31, the Russian Embassy in the Central African Republic reported the murder of three people near the town of Sibut, north of the CAR capital Bangui. The Russian Foreign Ministry later reported that journalist passes for Kirill Radchenko, Alexander Rastorguev and Orkhan Dzhemal were found with the bodies that were discovered on July 30. Based on this fact, the Russian Investigative Committee launched a criminal case under the article "Murder."

The editor-in-chief of the radio station Ekho Moskvy, Alexei Venediktov, earlier told TASS that war correspondent Orkhan Dzhemal, cameraman Kirill Radchenko and documentary director Alexander Rastorguev had been working in the CAR on a documentary.

Alexander Rastorguev was born on June 26, 1971, in Rostov-on-Don. In 1999, he graduated from the St. Petersburg Academy of Dramatic Art (now called the Russian State Institute of Performing Art). In the 2000s he worked as a film director in the Don-TR television and radio company in Rostov-on-Don, then in the St. Petersburg branch of the NTV channel. In 2001, he created the Kino (Cinema) studio. In co-authorship with documentary maker Pavel Kostomarov, he released the documentaries "I love you" (2010) and "I don’t love you" (2012).

He is a holder of the TEFI-Region award (2000, for the films "My Age" and "Your Generation") and the Laurel (2005), Triumph (2006) and White Elephant (2006) awards and a special jury award at the international documentary film festival in Amsterdam (2006) for the film "Tender's Heat. Wild Wild Beach.".