Nikita Sergeyevich Mikhalkov (Russian: Никита Сергеевич Михалков; born 21 October 1945) is a Russian filmmaker and actor. He made his directorial debut with the Red Western film At Home Among Strangers (1974) after appearing in a series of films, including the romantic comedy Walking the Streets of Moscow (1964), the war drama The Red and the White (1967), the romantic drama A Nest of Gentry (1969) and the adventure drama The Red Tent (1969). His subsequent films include the romantic comedy-drama A Slave of Love (1976), the drama An Unfinished Piece for Mechanical Piano (1977), the romantic drama Five Evenings (1978), the historical drama Siberiade (1979), the romantic comedy Station for Two (1983), the drama Without Witness (1983) and the romantic comedy-drama Dark Eyes (1987). Mikhalkov then directed, co-wrote and appeared in the adventure drama film Close to Eden (1991), for which he received the Golden Lion at the Venice International Film Festival and an Academy Award nomination.

Following the Soviet Union's dissolution, Mikhalkov directed, co-wrote and starred in the historical drama Burnt by the Sun (1994), for which he won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival and the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. He received the "Special Lion" at the Venice Film Festival for his contribution to the cinematography and an Academy Award nomination for the legal drama 12 (2007).

Mikhalkov is a three-time laureate of the State Prize of the Russian Federation (1993, 1995, 1999) and Full Cavalier of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland". In honor of his 80th birthday, in 2025, he was awarded the Order of St. Andrew the Apostle the First-Called, Russia's highest state award.

Mikhalkov was born in Moscow into the noble and distinguished Mikhalkov family. His great-grandfather was the imperial governor of Yaroslavl, whose mother was a princess of the House of Golitsyn. Nikita's father, Sergey Mikhalkov, was best known as writer of children's literature, although he also wrote lyrics to his country's national anthem on three occasions spanning nearly 60 years – two sets of lyrics used for the Soviet national anthem, and the current lyrics of the Russian national anthem. Mikhalkov's mother, poet Natalia Konchalovskaya, was the daughter of the avant-garde artist Pyotr Konchalovsky and granddaughter of another outstanding painter, Vasily Surikov. Nikita's older brother is the filmmaker Andrei Konchalovsky, primarily known for his collaboration with Andrei Tarkovsky and his own Hollywood action films, such as Runaway Train and Tango & Cash.

Mikhalkov studied acting at the children's studio of the Moscow Art Theatre and later at the Shchukin School of the Vakhtangov Theatre. While still a student, he appeared in Georgiy Daneliya's film Walking the Streets of Moscow (1964) and his brother Andrei Konchalovsky's film Home of the Gentry (1969). He was soon on his way to becoming a star of the Soviet stage and cinema.

While continuing to pursue his acting career, he entered VGIK, the state film school in Moscow, where he studied directing under filmmaker Mikhail Romm, teacher to his brother and Andrei Tarkovsky. He directed his first short film in 1968, I'm Coming Home, and another for his graduation, A Quiet Day at the End of the War in 1970. Mikhalkov had appeared in more than 20 films, including his brother's Uncle Vanya (1972), before he co-wrote, directed and starred in his first feature, At Home Among Strangers in 1974, an Ostern set just after the 1920s civil war in Russia.

Mikhalkov established an international reputation with his second feature, A Slave of Love (1976). Set in 1917, it followed the efforts of a film crew to make a silent melodrama in a resort town while the Revolution rages around them. The film, based upon the last days of Vera Kholodnaya, was highly acclaimed upon its release in the U.S.

Mikhalkov's next film, An Unfinished Piece for Mechanical Piano (1977) was adapted by Mikhalkov from Chekhov's early play, Platonov, and won the first prize at the San Sebastián International Film Festival. In 1978, while starring in his brother's epic film Siberiade, Mikhalkov made Five Evenings, a love story about a couple separated by World War II, who meet again after eighteen years. Mikhalkov's next film, A Few Days from the Life of I. I. Oblomov (1980), with Oleg Tabakov in the title role, is based on Ivan Goncharov's classic novel about a lazy young nobleman who refuses to leave his bed. Family Relations (1981) is a comedy about a provincial woman in Moscow dealing with the tangled relationships of her relatives. Without Witness (1983) tracks a long night's conversation between a woman (Irina Kupchenko) and her ex-husband (Mikhail Ulyanov) when they are accidentally locked in a room. The film won the Prix FIPRESCI at the 13th Moscow International Film Festival.