Valery Semyonovich Kichin (Russian: Вале́рий Семёнович Ки́чин; born December 31, 1938, Sverdlovsk) is a Russian journalist, film and theater critic, radio host. He is currently a columnist for Rossiyskaya Gazeta. Honored Worker of Culture of the Russian Federation (2010). Laureate of the Government of the Russian Federation Prize (2019)^[1][2] and Prize of the Russian Guild of Film Critics (2003).^[3]

Graduated from the Music School at the Urals Mussorgsky State Conservatoire in Sverdlovsk (piano class) and the journalism faculty of the Ural State University in 1961.

He was a member of the jury of national and international film festivals (Varna, Sochi, Yekaterinburg, Odesa, Khanty-Mansiysk), a member of the FIPRESCI jury at the Montreal World Film Festival, a member of the jury of the Golden Mask (twice), chairman of the jury of Russian critics at the Moscow International Film Festival.^[3]

In 2018, it was censored: a review made by Kichin following the premiere of the film Donbass at the Cannes Film Festival completely disappeared from Rossiyskaya Gazeta. On the last day of the festival, a paragraph dedicated to Sergei Loznitsa's painting was again removed in the same newspaper, and the editorial staff did not inform the author.^[4][5]