Russian Films Today are Unexpectedly Exciting!
With regard to Russian films, we often subconsciously recall the old stories occurred last century and talk about Vertov, Eisenstein, Tarkovsky... We regard all these predecessors as the stars in the sky which are illuminating the history of film development with the worship by all the fans day and night.
“Beijing Film Panorama” of this film festival will present five latest Russian masterpieces for all the film fans under the title “Focus on Russia,” including the absurd fable about the "prophet" being dragged into the abyss by collective will, the fantasy film full of black fairy tale in Eastern Europe, the elegy of the times taking the individual as the viewpoint to see the greatness out of trivialness and the sci-fi film with the level of Hollywood production. After enjoying the five films, you will sigh with surprise that Russian films today are so exciting!
A Man From Podolsk (2020
A Man From Podolsk
In the film A Man From Podolsk, the director Semion Serzin makes the audience feel the absurdity and madness on that land in an absurd way. Nikolay Frolov, a man from Podolsk, can foresee the violence in the police station. When he comes to the police station to make the explanation, he is detained for no obvious reason. When the violence really occurs, he is suspected of being the mastermind of the violence because of his social background...
A man capable of predicting the future plays the role of a prophet while the "collective" represented by the police station turns the prophet foretelling the disaster into the disaster itself by means of coercion and "treatment".
The film tells a dystopian farce in which individuals are dispelled into single symbols in the style of A Clockwork Orange. Meanwhile, it also resembles The Passion of the Christ in contemporary times. Being regarded as a sign of disaster by the foolish public, Jesus, who has been nailed to the cross with the prejudice and stereotype, turns over and changes into a furious fire of destruction.
A large number of home video clips are interspersed in the film. When the scene of plain life becomes the evidence of crime against the individual, the sense of absurdity and the hidden fear rooted deep in the mind also start to emerge one after another.
Sputnik (2020)
Sputnik
The sci-fi thriller Sputnik, one of the films involving the relationship between individual and collective, tells the story of a female doctor who disobeys military orders to save the life of an astronaut parasitized by alien organism.
The confrontation between individual and collective brings the tragic and epic bravery of the warrior fighting against the dragon single-handedly. The terrifying alien monster may have parasitized in our body to live and die with us, so we have to face the moral paradox similar to the "Trolley Problem" again and again.
The visible cannibal monster brings the audience a type of straightforward visual impact while the parasitic relationship with humans becomes the psychological fear haunting our mind even after the film. If you want a thorough psychological cooling down in the hot summer, this hardcore Russian sci-fi thriller is definitely the best choice at the BJIFF.
This film also reflects the rapid development of Russian film industry in recent years. If you can still remember the Salyut 7 produced in 2017, you will imagine what kind of visual shocking the film Sputnik can bring to you and the production level comparable to Hollywood is definitely not an exaggeration. It is worthy of being recommended to those who love sci-fi films and pursue audio-visual experience.
The North Wind (2020)
The North Wind
Another film worth applauding in terms of production level and image style is The North Wind directed by Renata Litvinova. The beautiful costumes, makeup and props as well as unrestrained imagination, if you yearn for the splendor and extravagance of the Baroque era, and indulge in the magnificence and strangeness of black fairy tales in Eastern Europe, then this film may become the biggest surprise you harvest at this BJIFF.
The film tells the story of the family of wizard Margarita, who conjure for the dead year after year and try to break the cycle of fate with the help of the thirteenth hour of magic. The tensile footage and performance in the film are full of mysticism and symbolism, the matriarchal family, the cycle of thirty years, the echoing storyline… Beyond the plot, the information borne in the film still has a huge room to be interpreted. Of course, even if we set the content and expression aside, the scenery, beautiful costumes, makeup and props as well as attractive actors are enough to make people exclaim "worthwhile”.
Masha (2020)
Masha
The film Masha tells the growth of a little girl named Masha from her own perspective and composes an elegy of the times for the glory of the past. The heroine of this film, Masha, shares a lot of similarities with the heroine of Lady Bird to some extent – beautiful and crazy, in eager pursuit of a better world; however, the Oedipus-style "father-killing" plot is staged in the end.
Masha was born in Russia during the 1990s. Her closest friends in the childhood are a group of gangsters accustomed to kill and rob. But in her eyes, these people love her and protect her and they are the best in the world. However, when she finds out what they really are, all the good memories in the past collapse. She flees to Moscow, trying to escape from the past...
The elegy in previous era was composed of crying and blood. Instead of being just a symbol or emblem engraved on the tombstone for mourning, it’s more like a livestock branding on Masha and those who have experienced the turmoil during the collapse of times, which becomes the aftershock throughout their lives. After watching the film, the audience will feel the aftershock spreading in the mind so widely that they cannot calm down for long.
Stanislavski. Lust for Life (2021)
Stanislavski.Lust for life
The documentary Stanislavsky. Lust for Life tells the story behind a great drama master of the 20th century -- how his sophisticated performance system travels through time to be stronger than ever with profoundly effect on a large number of contemporary directors and actors, and finally turns into immortality.
《斯坦尼斯拉夫斯基：渴望生活》预告片
This year’s "Beijing Film Panorama" will join hands with Russian film agency ROSKINO to present five excellent Russian films. Meanwhile, it will also demonstrate the five appearances of filmmaking in our northern neighbor. Despite different styles, all the films are so excellent and wonderful that we should not miss! Carrying out cooperation this time, both parties hope to better introduce contemporary Russian films to Chinese audiences and enhance audiences’ interest and understanding of Russia as well as Russian films.
[Here is the official introduction of ROSKINO and RFF]
Russian films are brought to the Beijing Film Festival in collaboration with ROSKINO and the Russian Film Festival to present the program “Focus on Russia.”
ROSKINO is a state body representing Russian industry of audiovisual content on the key international markets and film festivals, a national operator for the promotion of films, series and animation as well as the creative potential of Russian talents abroad and coproduction opportunities within Russia. ROSKINO also acts as an industrial expert and advisor to Russian content makers in terms of international promotion; organizes tailor-made educational and coaching programs for talented Russian producers, directors, actors.
The Russian Film Festival is a project organized by ROSKINO with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation. RFF aims to acquaint foreign viewers with a variety of contemporary Russian content: from feature films to documentaries and animation. In 2020, the festival was held in four countries (Australia, Mexico, Spain, and Brazil) in an online format. In 2021, RFF took place in Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, then continued in Kazakhstan and South Korea. Since its launch RFF has gathered more than 200 thousand spectators all over the world. For the Russian film industry, this is the first online project aimed at a broad international audience.