"Perfect Days"
The film by Wim Wenders (“Sky over Berlin,” “Immersion”), shot by filmmakers from Japan and Germany, won the Ecumenical Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2023, and Koji Yakusho received the award for Best Actor. In addition, the film is competing for an Oscar in the Best Foreign Language Film category.
The dramatic story centers on Hirayama, a toilet cleaner in Tokyo who, outside of his work, enjoys caring for plants, listening to music, reading books and photographing trees. The simple and familiar life of the hero changes after several unexpected meetings.
The idea for the film came to Wenders after his trip to Japan, where he collected material about toilets for a documentary.
“All of this inspired me to make not just a documentary, but also a story about a slightly different - a more modest approach to life and a more modest approach to owning so much property. I like the concept that a person doesn’t have a lot of possessions,” the director told Deadline. — There is a kind of club that is constantly growing with new members. It consists mainly of young people who have begun to realize that they could live on less. And it’s almost like (challenge -
RT
): “Can you get by with even less than I do?” And if you can't fit all your stuff into one suitcase, you're not a member of this club."
"I am a bear"
The Russian comedy “I Am a Bear” tells the story of the Kovalev family, which is experiencing various difficulties. The father of the family, played by Nikita Kologrivoy, cannot recover from his injury and return to the hockey club of which he was the captain, and his wife (Agatha Muceniece) takes on the role of breadwinner. In addition, daughter Lisa is going through a puberty crisis, and son Zhenya suffers from a lack of friendly communication. One day a boy brings home a bear cub, separated from its mother. The decision to take care of an animal brings new colors to the lives of the heroes.
The director of the project was Kirill Kemnitz, and the script was written by Mikhail Zubko.
“We met while working on the film Deadly Illusions and quickly became friends, largely due to our similar views on cinema. We decided to work together, made one film, then another,” Kemnitz told Kinobusiness.com.
Roles in the film were also performed by Dmitry Kalikhov, Ekaterina Borisova, Vladimir Sterzhakov, Mikhail Evlanov. The animals were played by real bears, including Mashenka, who was only two months old at the time of filming.
"End of Glory"
The story revolves around the famous actor Slava Ageev, who has lost popularity and contracts with studios. The hero decides to take an adventure - staging his own death. His agent is confident that after the news of his death, the artist will be able to restore his career. When the “funeral” is over, the agent goes to dig in Slava, but an accident happens to him. Now the actor buried alive must find his own way out of the grave.
The main role in the film was played by Pavel Derevyanko. The acting ensemble also included Daria Ursulyak, Maxim Lagashkin, Sergei Chirkov, Ekaterina Klimova, Yan Tsapnik and others. The film was directed by Marius Weisberg (“Granny of Easy Virtue,” “Night Shift”).
In an interview with Gazeta.Ru, the director said that the most difficult part of the work, both from a technical and creative point of view, were the episodes in the coffin: Derevianko had to maintain a comedic balance in dramatic circumstances.
“The main difficulty was filming in a coffin, where a significant part of the film takes place. We had to develop a certain filming technology and create a certain feeling of claustrophobia... We carefully prepared, ordered special cameras, came up with different light situations,” Weisberg noted. — Pasha gave 1000% in this film. He had to act in a coffin and at the same time remain funny, maintain comedy and balance the dramatic circumstances - this, of course, is a very fine line.”
"Is it true"
Maxim Kuznetsov’s debut full-length film was shown at the XI Russian festival “In Short”. The script was written by Alexander Rodionov (“The Ninth”) and Alexey Kamynin (“Handra”).
The plot centers on Zhenya, recently released from prison. The hero served time for a crime he did not commit. He again falls under the suspicion of the investigation after five-year-old Masha disappears without a trace in the town. In the name of freedom, Zhenya must remain silent, despite the fact that he was the only one who saw the girl last and knows the truth about her disappearance. While the hero is deciding on a moral choice made in the slogan of the film - “Can freedom be more valuable than truth?” — Masha’s relatives receive a call from unknown people.
The central roles were played by Kuzma Kotrelev, Alexandra Drozdova, Mikhail Troynik and Kirill Kyaro.
"Babe"
Belarusian and Russian actress Maria Matsel (“Dyatlov Pass”, “YZZZ”, “Black Cloud”) played 17-year-old Dasha, who did not receive maternal love and cannot answer the questions that torment her. The girl's mother (Victoria Isakova) abandoned her when she was a child, leaving her to live with a loving and strict father in a small town. One day, under the pretext of entering a theater institute, Dasha runs away from home and goes to St. Petersburg. In reality, the girl hopes to get to know her pianist mother, who lives in the Northern capital, better.
The director of the dramatic film based on the script of Nargiz Bagirzade (“Moms of Champions”) was the debutante in the feature film Irina Bas. She worked on the TV series “Themis Sees” and “Sixteen +”, and also directed the short films “Formers”, “Confusion” and one of the short stories in the anthology “Happiness is... Part 2”.