Russia

  • Aleksandr Sokurov – Robert. Schastlivaya zhizn aka Hubert Robert. A Fortunate Life (1997)

    1991-2000Aleksandr SokurovArthouseDocumentaryRussia

    Quote:
    Aleksander Sokurov brings the treasures of the Hermitage back into the light by making films about artists and their paintings. He has chosen the painter Hubert Robert, who spent a long time in Italy, and whose preference was for creating ancient ruined landscapes and naturalistic portrayals of times past. He was successful with the wealthy, who bought his works from him. The camera pans across the paintings while Sokurov speaks of a happy era, when the artist was at one with the spirit of the times, and agreed with the taste of his clients. Just how far removed from us this is, is shown by pictures of a “Nô” performance which are inter-cut on the screen. No words are necessary to describe what everybody knows todayRead More »

  • Sergey Bodrov Jr. – Syostry AKA Sisters (2001)

    Sergei Bodrov2001-2010CrimeDramaRussia

    Plot
    “Sisters” focuses on two step-siblings, thirteen-year-old Sveta, a sullen tomboy (played by Oksana Akinshina from Lilya 4-ever), and eight-year-old Dina, a spoilt little princess. When their gangster father, recently released from jail, refuses to handover stolen money to a rival gang, they threaten to kidnap his youngest daughter. The two girls find they must bury their differences and go on the run.Read More »

  • Vadim Perelman – Persian Lessons (2020)

    2011-2020DramaRussiaVadim Perelman

    A young Jewish man pretends to be Iranian to avoid being executed in a concentration camp.
    (imdb)Read More »

  • Aleksey Balabanov – Brat 2 AKA Brother 2 (2000)

    Aleksei Balabanov1991-2000CrimeRussia

    Arriving in Moscow, Danila discovers Konstantin dead and he sets out to avenge his death; a journey that leads him to Chicago and a whole new experience.Read More »

  • Aleksey Balabanov – Brat AKA Brother (1997)

    Aleksei Balabanov1991-2000CrimeRussia

    An ex-soldier with a personal honor code enters the family crime business in St. Petersburg, Russia.Read More »

  • Vyacheslav Ross – Sibir, Monamur AKA Siberia, Monamour (2011)

    2011-2020ArthouseDramaRussiaVyacheslav Ross

    Synopsis:
    Siberia. Late autumn. In taiga, in the deserted village there lives an old man Ivan & his seven-year-old grandson Leshia. A pack of feral dogs devours everything alive in the neighborhood. One of these dogs is Leshia’s best friend. Sometimes their relative uncle Yuri brings food to them. Once on his way back from Ivan’s village uncle Yuri is attacked by dogs & perishes. Ivan & Leshia stay without supply. Once Leshia witnesses Ivan shooting at ‘his’ dog & runs away. The old Man finds him in a dry well, but he fails to get him out on his own. Ivan sets out through taiga in search of help. Now the dogs are hunting him… And the boy is waiting for his father…Read More »

  • Aleksey Balabanov – Zamok AKA The Castle (1994)

    Aleksei Balabanov1991-2000ArthouseRussia

    Quote:
    The Castle (Russian: Замок, translit. Zamok) is a 1994 film directed by Aleksei Balabanov. It is the first notable screen version filmed in Russia of Kafka’s unfinished novel of the same name. It is a sophisticated and ambiguous parable of an individual desperately trying to preserve his identity while struggling against sinister and invisible bureaucrats who rule the village from inside the titualr castle. This funny, somewhat bizarre, and distinctive movie won official selections to film festivals in Montreal and Rotterdam, and two national Nika Awards.

    The film was also noted for its original soundtrack by Sergey Kuryokhin and costumes/sets design in bruegelian style. The stars of the film include Nikolay Stotsky, Svetlana Pismichenko, and Viktor Sukhorukov.Read More »

  • Philipp Yuryev – Kitoboy AKA The Whaler Boy (2020)

    Philipp Yuryev2011-2020DramaRussia

    Leshka, 15-year-old boy lives in an isolated village on the Bering Strait, like most men in his village, he is a whale hunter. When Internet arrives in the village, everything changes in the life. The appearance of an unusual girl on a webcam site fascinates him. The protagonist’s state of being in love with an image so far away, the blurred silhouette of a beautiful stranger, leads him to the most courageous act in his life: to embark on the dangerous journey using nothing more than a tiny fishing boat through the raging waters of the Bering Strait towards an unfamiliar world in order to find his love.Read More »

  • Dorian Jespers – Sun Dog (2020)

    2011-2020Dorian JespersFantasyRussiaShort Film

    Remarkable graduation film from KASK in Ghent with an entirely unique style. Fedor is a young locksmith in Murmansk, a frozen city in the darkness of the Russian arctic. He wanders from client to client through the concrete alleyways driven by a fantasy that isolates him from the city and its inhabitants. His dreams erode his sense of reality, opening the door to a phantasmagorical universe: a second sun rises over the horizon.Read More »

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