“Marks”
Serafim Orekhanov’s suspenseful drama, where the despair of Orwell’s world meets Tarkovsky’s hysterical persuasion, is one of the festival’s best premieres. The year is 1953, the heroine of Xenia Rappoport Eva works as an “eraser” – she cleans people who were drawn to the NKVD from photos. Eve’s tough boss insists it will all be over soon and you just have to be patient. But, fed up with both work and the regime, Eva decides to take a desperate step – to try to erase the main source of the evil that reigns.
A terrifying and current story, in which the incredible Ksenia Rappoport was her heart and main achievement. Despite the fact that the picture looks like a self-sufficient story, I want to imagine the emergence of a feature film based on it. A very good job of directing and acting, not to want any more time for this plot.
“How did Maxim not get x (beep)”
Winner in the Best Screenplay category. A daring and contemporary satire by Vitaly Dudnik, graduate of the Film and Television Industrial School. At the center of the story is an aspiring director who, in a desperate attempt to make an uncompromising and honest film, makes a pact with his conscience, which has turned into an unusual “curse”. Agreeing to “clean up” his script, the writer suddenly falls victim to censorship and leaves the set. Now all the obscenities that sound in life literally stutter, obscene acts become obscure, banned products are covered with black squares. Now Maxim has to make a choice: continue to bow to the producers’ demands or defend himself against all odds.
Dudnik himself played the main role in the film, but the film has excellent parts with guest stars in the person of Konstantin Khabensky and Yuri Bykov. Older and more experienced comrades serve as the main reminder to the beginner that the director must have an inner core in addition to talent. A funny and at the same time serious story about the dangers of censorship.
“Tears dripped into Pho-bo”
Jury special prize. A great comedy from last year’s festival winner, Sergei Filatov, that burst into laughter. Sonya is a talented but derelict actress who was forced into cold sales out of desperation. The next “scenario” call turns into an unplanned improvisation: on the other end of the wire is the emotional rogue Skull, who is unrequitedly in love with the boss’s woman. Due to unrequited feelings, the gangster is considering suicide. Forced to step out of the script, Sonya showcases her artistic talent to the fullest and saves Skull’s life. But the adventures of the girl do not end there. Experience and criminal jargon in an unforeseen situation help save another life and finally get a chance for self-realization in the profession.
Eccentric, lively and wildly funny, Filatov’s comedy is a rare example of the wonderful humor we all crave.
“Click-Knock”
Andrey Gordin’s debut work is perhaps the most touching story from the competition program of the 10th Koroche festival. Two people meet in the apartment: a young man and an old woman. From the first minutes it is clear that it was their first meeting, where both were shy. But the recently grieving hero has his own special purpose, and the owner of the apartment, despite being a stranger, is the only one who can ease the pain in his heart.
A fragile and minimalist story about human connection and the search for intimacy in a world where everything is finite except eternal love.
“Red Dawn”
Evgeny Dobrorodnov’s absolutely unpredictable graduation film that appears to be the heir to Tarantino’s style, but is much closer to the traditions of modern South Korean cinema with its ultra-violence woven into the fabric of a dramatic narrative.
The main character (played by Dobrorodnov himself) goes to the rural wilderness, responding to the request of an ex-girlfriend whose new boyfriend has gone missing. The story, which begins as a road movie, evolves in style into a bloodthirsty horror about a brutal family of cannibals. Now the unfortunate traveler is forced to save not only his successor, but also himself. The film has an unusual cinematography, often with a still camera and minimalist mise-en-scène. But this austerity works well for a plot that can (and will love) develop up to a full meter. For behind the glibness of the external species lies an parable of the cycle of violence in nature. Krasnaya Zarya was awarded a special jury diploma.
“Swept deep into the stars”
Two awards of the show at once: the prize of the special jury of the festival and the victory in the category “Best animation work”. An incredible painting by Sergei Anfinogentov, an orchestra of people who created the picture on their own over the course of seven months. After a mysterious accident in orbit, an astronaut flies deep into space. But instead of the expected death in the depths of the universe, an incredible discovery awaits him – an anomaly that reveals the secrets of nature and the mysterious cosmos.
For 22 minutes, an exciting story unfolds in front of the viewer, somewhat similar to both Interstellar and Ad Astra. “Swept into the Starry Depths” is a project I’d like to see in a miniseries format because despite all the beauty of the video sequence, the story lacked full disclosure in its dramaturgy. It’s interesting to learn more about the main character, with whom it will be easier to empathize the more you get to know them. And also about his journey and, of course, about the cosmic essence that makes it clear that a person is not alone in the universe.
“Communicators”
Funny miniature of Anastasia Voronina, made in the style of a model. The program “Paranormal Cherepovets” describes the most inexplicable phenomena in the region and often reveals its heroes. But the participants of the new issue surprise the creators and viewers of the show. Local resident Alexei claims to have acquired the ability to communicate with aliens. As the broadcasters search for prey, the situation takes on unexpected new details.
“Contactees” is a painting that will surely appeal to fans of Taika Waititi (“Paranormal Wellington” – handcrafted).
Here the absurd secretly meets the otherworldly, but everything shown on the screen is so funny and harmonious that you want to stay in the movie as long as possible. And one more thing: the lead actor is Nikita Frolov, the new Sasha Pal, an artist with the same original organics and a talent for being funny in the frame.
“Fishing”
The director of the film, Georgy Boldugerov, was chosen as the best director of the festival. The hero of the picture is Oleg (star “Chick” Sergey Gilev), released on parole, going fishing with his brother and two younger sons. Spontaneous rest turns into a crime drama: the characters accidentally find a corpse in the lake – and law enforcement finds them, as they decide whether to go to the police or risk being made a suspect without trial or investigation. themselves.
A separate story unfolds, flavored with a good sitcom, told from the children’s point of view, against the backdrop of the inner suffering of adults, in which the long-awaited fishing trip is a kind of beginning and an important adventure. In the words of Andrey Zvyagintsev’s “The Return,” this synthesis of a crime anecdote and a rearing novel transforms “Fishing” into a multi-layered work with a place for both adult horror and childlike joy.
“Shurik”
Parents leave little Sasha with her grandmother (the evil Rosa Khairullina), who does not get along with the surrounding reality and quickly becomes a source of danger for the child. The boy tries to get to know his surroundings within the framework of his relative’s apartment, enters the forbidden second floor and tries not to drown in his soul during the “torture” arranged by his grandmother. Gradually, the tension builds and the hero’s strange behavior takes on a new scale of horror that consumes both him and tiny Sasha.
The painting by Alexander Samsonov is a powerful application for stylish horror in the soul of Ari Astaire, the author of “The Solstice” and “Reincarnation”. Everything is fine with the movie, the directing, the camera work, and the soundtrack that you automatically shazam the last credits to.
“In Depth”
Partially biographical animation by Liza Starikova about a girl begging her father to have a submarine at sea as she associates the element with monsters and competes with her for her parents’ attention. Then he saves my father, who cannot live on land and suffers without the water he loves so much.
A piercing and sensual story about strong family ties and children’s optics who, on the one hand, exaggerate everything, and on the other, realize the unmistakable magic for an adult look.
***
In addition, the students of the cinema schools who took part in the new creative laboratory examination organized within the scope of the festival were awarded. The winner of the “Best Film” nomination was the work “First Hunt” by Ekaterina Bartova, the award for “Best Idea” went to the film “Dukhota” by Vyacheslav Belomestnykh and recognized by “Best Director” Vladislav Emelin. For the movie “Thursday – Fish Day”.