Animated film director, screenwriter, artist Yuri Norstein was born on September 15, 1941 in Andreyevka village in Penza region.

In 1956-1958 Yuri Norstein while studying in high school went to the children art school. From 1959 to 1961 Norstein studied at the animator courses at the film studio "Soyuzmultfilm".

In 1961-1989 he worked at the film studio "Soyuzmultfilm". From 1961 to 1973 he was an animated film director of more than 50 films. Among them, "Lefty" (directed by Ivan Ivanov-Vano), "Boniface’s Holiday" (directed by Fyodor Khitruk), "Mitten", "Cheburashka" (directed by Roman Kachanov), a series of films on the drawings of Alexander Pushkin (directed by Andrey Khrzhanovsky). From 1973 to 1989, Yuri Norstein worked as a director of animated films at the film studio "Soyuzmultfilm". He is the director of the films "Twenty-fifth, the first day," "Battle of Kerzhenets", "Fox and Hare," "Heron and Crane", "Hedgehog in the Fog," "The Tale of Tales", "The Overcoat" (unfinished), " Russian sugar "- four commercials, splash to the TV program “Good night, kids”, a film based on poems by Basho in Japanese cycle" Winter day" (Japan).

In 1979-1996 Norstein taught at the Graduate School of Scriptwriters and Film Directors (faculty of film directors of animated films). From 1990 to 2006 he worked in "Rolan Bykov Foundation", where he organized the animation studio "Artel". In 1993 Norstein (together with Andrei Khrzhanovsky, Fedor Khitruk, Eduard Nazarov) founded the school studio "SHAR", where he taught until 1998. In 2000 he founded "Yuri Norstein Foundation", which the studio "Artel" was legally transferred to. Over the years, he lectured at VGIK, he is an honorary professor at the Institute of Cinematography, honorary Doctor of Fine Arts at Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, United States (2005). Yuri Norstein conducted master classes in many countries: in Norway (1993), Great Britain (1991, 1994), Hungary, Italy, France, Poland, Canada, Sweden ( 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998), US (2000), the Netherlands (1998), Belgium (1994, 1995), Poland (1993, 2001), Latvia, Japan (from 1995 to 2007 – every year).

Norstein shows were held at Perm Gallery, the Museum of Cinema in Moscow, Paris City Hall (Hotel de Ville), the Ghibli Museum in Tokyo, the Department of Private Collections of the Pushkin Museum.

Yuri Norstein is a People's Artist of Russia (1996), winner of the USSR State Prize (1979), Tarkovsky Prize "For the author's contribution to the development of the art" (1989), "Triumph" Award (1995), V.Starevich Prize (1997), Vladimir Vysotsky Award "Own Track" (2000), "Master" award for the exhibition at the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts. (2005), is a knight of the Order of Arts and Letters of France (1991), the Japanese Order of the Rising Sun (2004), he is awarded the Medal of the International Union of Journalists "For contribution to the development of the art of animation and films for children and youth" (1989).

His films were awarded numerous international prizes. In 1984 in Los Angeles (US) the film "Tale of Tales" was recognized as the best film of all time. In 2003, in Tokyo (Japan) film "Hedgehog in the Fog" was recognized as the best film of all time, the second was the film "Tale of Tales".

In 2010 Norstein became one of the founders of KinoSoyuz.