Alexei Balabanov was born in Sverdlovsk. From 1966 to 1976 he studied at a secondary school there. He graduated from the translation faculty of the Gorky Pedagogical Institute of Foreign Languages. From 1981 to 1983 he served as an officer in the Soviet Army (in the 339th Military Transport Aviation Regiment of the VTA of the Air Force, military transport aviation, in Vitebsk), and flew to countries in Africa and Asia. This experience was reflected in the film "Cargo 200". A participant in the war in Afghanistan. Shortly before the end of his service he was transferred to the Navy. Since then his favorite clothing was the naval telnyashka. For four years he worked as an assistant director at the Sverdlovsk Film Studio. In 1990 he graduated from the directing department of the Higher Courses for Scriptwriters and Directors (the experimental workshop "Author's Cinema" of L.

Nikolaev and B. Galanter). Balabanov made his first feature film in the Urals in 1987 at the age of 26. The screenplay was written in one night. This low-budget film was shot in a restaurant. The group Nautilus Pompilius appeared in the film, with whose leader Vyacheslav Butusov the director was acquainted. Patrons of the establishment took part as extras. After his debut, in each subsequent film Balabanov cast non-professional actors, striving for the most natural and convincing embodiment of the everyday vicissitudes of his characters through artistic images. From 1990 Balabanov lived and worked in St. Petersburg. In 1992, together with producer Sergei Selyanov, he founded the film company STV, with the help of which he made most of his films.