When discussing international events like a film festival (кинофестиваль), you will often need to talk about foreign directors, screenwriters (сценарист), and awards (премия).
| The screenwriter arrived before the start of the award ceremony. | Сценарист приехал перед началом вручения. |
The rules for declining foreign names in Russian depend on gender and the final letter.
Male Names Ending in Consonants
Foreign male names and surnames ending in consonants (like Стивен Спилберг) decline like standard Russian masculine nouns. Add case endings to both names.
| The jury gave the award to Stephen Spielberg. | Жюри дало премию Стивену Спилбергу. |
| We saw the director Stephen Spielberg himself. | Мы видели самого режиссёра Стивена Спилберга. |
Foreign Surnames Ending in Vowels
Foreign surnames ending in vowels like -о, -и, -е, or -у (like Тарантино) are indeclinable—their endings never change. If the first name ends in a consonant (like Квентин), it still declines normally.
| The audience loves Quentin Tarantino's films. | Зрители любят фильмы Квентина Тарантино. |
| Yesterday we watched an interview with Quentin Tarantino. | Вчера мы смотрели интервью с Квентином Тарантино. |
Female Names Ending in Consonants
Unlike male names, female names and surnames ending in consonants (like Мерил Стрип) are indeclinable. Neither changes, regardless of its grammatical case.
| The jury gave the award to Meryl Streep. | Жюри дало премию Мерил Стрип. |
| I haven't seen a single new film by Meryl Streep. | Я не видел ни одного нового фильма Мерил Стрип. |
Titles and Professions
When using a title or profession (like номинант or сценарист) before a name, the title declines according to its role in the sentence. The name follows the rules above.
| At the film festival, we met the nominee Quentin Tarantino. | На кинофестивале мы встретили номинанта Квентина Тарантино. |
| We gave the award to the screenwriter Steven Spielberg. | Мы отдали награду сценаристу Стивену Спилбергу. |
