Is it a woman’s job to be a stage director? It would seem that the profession is purely male - without strong will, assertiveness, and sometimes unparliamentary expressions, one cannot cope with the film crew. Many people think so. But those who could not imagine a woman pilot or a woman politician thought the same thing... There is another common opinion: those who professionally engage in humor, in life, as a rule, are gloomy misanthropes with a difficult character. Alla Surikova breaks all stereotypes. Feminine, charming, she is not only a famous film director, but also works in such a difficult genre as comedy. Audiences love her films, and such wonderful actors as Leonid Kuravlev, Natalya Gundareva, Nikolai Karachentsov, Sergei Yursky, Oleg Tabakov, Armen Dzhigarkhanyan, Mikhail Boyarsky loves Alla Surikova and is happy to act with her. And now they have all become heroes of her book. And the book turned out to be a match for its author - cheerful, mischievous and exciting. Although sometimes he talks about things that are far from funny. But this is how it is customary for real comedians - with a smile about the sad, with a slight sadness about the funny...

Alla Ilyinichna Surikova was born in Kyiv. She graduated from the Faculty of Philology of KSU, then from the Higher Directing Courses. In 1976, she shot her first full-length film, “Suppose You Are a Captain...”, and in 1979, the film “Vanity of Vanities,” which began a brilliant series of comedies by Alla Surikova. “Look for a Woman,” “The Man from the Boulevard des Capuchins,” “ Moscow Holidays”, “Monday’s Children”, “I Want to Go to Jail” - this list is far from complete, especially since she is not going to stop there. Director Alla Surikova has repeatedly received prizes at various festivals - at home and abroad - and in 2000, she was awarded the title of People's Artist of Russia. Surikova's films are truly funny, witty, they contain funny stunts and superbly choreographed fights - but at the same time, they always contain genuine human warmth and kindness. This is probably the main secret of their success. The book uses photographs from the author’s personal archive, as well as works by A. Visnap, A. and L. Grishin, I. Gneushev, G. Kmit, E. Kochetkov, V. Maykov and Press service of the President of the Russian Federation.