Option for play: Interview with Sergei Bodrov - Jr. and directorial debut of the operator of "Suicide Squad"
On Tuesday, August 17, the president of the Kinotavr festival, Alexander Rodnyansky, and the program director, Sitora Aliyeva, announced the program of the 32nd show, which will be held in Sochi from September 18 to 25. The festival will open with a documentary film by journalist and director Pyotr Shepotinnik “We will not be others”. The film is based on the interviews and dialogues recorded by the author with Sergei Bodrov Jr. and Alexei Balabanov.
“The idea to re-comprehend the personality phenomenon of Sergei Bodrov Jr. belongs to producers Yevgeny Nikishov and Valery Fedorovich.
Together we decided to go on this difficult journey.
Close friends and associates tell about Sergei - producer Sergei Selyanov, artist Nadezhda Vasilyeva, composer Vyacheslav Butusov, cameraman Sergei Astakhov, as well as ... Sergei Bodrov himself - the junior and director Alexei Balabanov, whose films "Brother" and "Brother 2" gained national fame at the end of the 2000s, ”says Pyotr Shepotinnik.
Kira Kovalenko's drama "Unclenching his fists" about life in a mining town in North Ossetia, which was awarded the "Special Look" award at the Cannes Film Festival, was chosen to close the festival.
The jury of the main competition of the festival will be headed by actress Chulpan Khamatova.
Together with her, the winners will be chosen by director Pyotr Buslov, screenwriter Oleg Malovichko, actor Pyotr Fedorov, producer Pyotr Anurov, cameraman Yuri Nikogosov and film critic Lilia Nemchenko.
This year the review committee received a record 104 applications (60 from debutants) for participation in the competition.
Of these, 15 were selected.
As Sitora Aliyeva noted, among the projects submitted were many fiction films shot in documentary style and as close to reality as possible.
Also among the trends this year, she named the noticeable impact of serial production on motion pictures.
“We have received a lot of works that carry the style and features of seriality,” says Sitora Aliyeva.
At the same time, filmmakers continue to choose classic forms for their projects.
According to the program director, many young directors prefer to work in this style.
Six debutants in the game full meter will compete for awards in the main competition "Kinotavr".
Among them is Lyubov Mulmenko, known as the scriptwriter of such films as “About Love.
For Adults Only ”,“ Loyalty ”and“ What's My Name ”.
Her first directorial work was the film "Danube" about the relationship of a Muscovite with her lover from Serbia.
Shot from the film "Dormitory"
© kinopoisk.ru
Another debutant is the famous cameraman Roman Vasyanov, who worked on the films "Suicide Squad", "Fury" and "Hipsters".
His directorial project "Dormitory" is a dramatic film about the life of students of the Sverdlovsk hostel in the mid-1980s, based on the novel by Alexei Ivanov "Dormitory-on-Blood".
“After reading the book by Alexei Ivanov, I got the idea that I want to make this film, this story touched me so much.
I liked that the action takes place in one room - a hostel - and at the same time immediately talks about many human passions, love, betrayal and friendship, ”said Roman Vasyanov.
Documentary filmmaker Yevgeny Grigoriev will present the dramatic thriller "Accomplice", based on real events.
The main character of the film is a 10-year-old boy who was left without a father and decided to avenge his death.
Also, Evgeny Maryan (Bird's Milk), Lena Lanskikh (Draw) and theatrical director Viktor Ryzhakov (Day of the Dead) will present their first feature-length director's projects.
Among the more experienced participants of the 32nd Kinotavr are last year's show participant Grigory Dobrygin with the film At Close Distance, director of the Foundling series Anton Bormatov with the drama Vladivostok, Alexander Zeldovich (Medea), Vladimir Munkuev (Nuuchcha ”), Kirill Sokolov (“ Tear it off and throw it away ”) and Sergei Osipyan (“ Portrait of a Stranger ”).
“The film“ Portrait of a Stranger ”is a modern man's view of the absurd and in its own way charming life of Soviet society in the 70s.
A look that has long been devoid of ideological bias, ironic and a little envious.
Shooting a story with a large number of characters and a complex plotline, we arrogantly tried to put this mosaic into an objective and fascinating picture, "says Sergei Osipyan about his picture.
Shot from the film "Gerda"
© kinopoisk.ru
Laureate of the Venice Film Festival for her role in the film The Man Who Surprised Everyone, Natalya Kudryashova, will present in Sochi the dramatic film Gerda about a girl who hopes to make money and get out of life on the periphery with her mother. Kudryashova acted as a director and screenwriter in the film. The film was previously presented at the Locarno Film Festival.
“I will be very pleased to show Gerda at Kinotavr, which is the main venue for Russian cinema. I would like the cinema to be received as deeply as at the Locarno festival. We received good feedback from both the audience and the jury, for example, from Gaspar Noe, and from the organizers of the festival. Amazing words were said about acting, about the camera, and about the team as a whole. I hope that at Kinotavr our cinema will be received as warmly and the main message will be understood, ”says Natalya Kudryashova. She stressed that her film is "very multi-layered, and each person can make different meanings out of it."
Winners of the 2013 Kinotavr for Best Debut (Intimate Places) Natasha Merkulova and Alexei Chupov this year will bring the dramatic thriller Captain Volkonogov Fled to the show.
Also, their tape participates this year in the main program of the Venice Film Festival.
Nikolay Khomeriki ("Selfie", "Icebreaker") will show his new film "The sea worries once" about young lovers who will have to sort out their feelings after meeting a mysterious married couple.
To participate in the short film competition this year, 503 applications came.
These included films from a number of major foreign film schools based in Paris, New York, London, Cologne and Lodz.
The section included 26 projects.
the panel of judges of the competition is headed by actress Ignéborga Dapkunaite.
The jury also includes actor Yura Borisov, producer Natalya Drozd, screenwriter Andrei Zolotarev and film critic Yegor Moskvitin.
Shot from the film "Coupe No. 6"
© kinopoisk.ru
As part of the 32nd Kinotavr, screenings of two films that were not included in the competition programs will take place.
The film "Coupe No. 6", co-produced by Russia, Finland, Germany and Estonia, was awarded the Grand Prix of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 2021.
The film tells about fellow passengers of the Moscow-Murmansk train, whom their meeting helped to sort out their own feelings.
The main roles were played by Yura Borisov and Seydi Haarla.
The film by Vladimir Bitokov "Mom, I'm at home" will also be presented in the new program of the Venice Show 2021 - "Horizons Extra".
Cast - Yura Borisov and Ksenia Rappoport.
A significant part of the Kinotavr business program will be devoted to serials and the activities of online platforms.
Within its framework, pitching of serial projects will take place.
Section participants will be able to attend a master class by the famous agent Richard Cook, who promotes many popular European and American actors.
Casting director Manuel Puro will take part in the event.
Alexander Rodnyansky expects this workshop to help Russian filmmakers understand how to build an international career.
The festival program also includes pilot episodes of TV series from six Russian online platforms: Lucky (IVI), Identification (Premier), Manyunya (Okko), The Last Minister (second season, Kinopoisk HD), "Female Praying Mantis" (Start) and "Comrade Major" (KION).