SUMMARY

«The new gentle»

The director's shift that is the shift of a world picture.

Round table talk. Sochi-2011.

Alexander Rodnyansky

The young: bourgeois view of the world

Conversed by Fyodor Bondarchuk. Sochi-2011.

Nina Zarkhi — Alexander Mindadze

Judged fairly

Sochi-2011: competition.

Zara Abdullayeva

The big and the small

Review of Bakur Bakuradze's THE HUNTER (Russia).

Basing on Bakur Bakuradze's THE HUNTER the author explores the unique style of the young director, his evolution as a filmmaker and artist. The author argues, that in this remarkable film there is no imitation or peculiar local specifics and exotics, but a universal subject matter, mature helming, concrete cinema stuff, transparency though devoid of clarity. Analyzing motives of coexistence in the picture of both — natural and human fundamentals, the critic also marks that these categories are assumed as unity and evoke not a conflict, but mutual attraction.

THE HUNTER, Bakur Bakuradze, evolution, universal subject matter, natural and human fundamentals

Elena Stishova

Venceremos!

Review of Vitaly Mansky's PATRIA O MUERTE (Russia).

Vitaly Masky's documentary PATRIA O MUERTE is investigated. Analyzing some hidden motives, visible ideological, political and social aspects of life in Cuba, Cubans' mentality, connection between the past and the present and making parallels with the period of the Soviet power in Russia, the critic admits, that the semicentennial experience of Socialism didn't extricate passionate energetics of the Cuban people. The author sees deep, vital and humanistic principles in the honest realism prevailing over conception in this film.

PATRIA O MUERTE, Vitaly Mansky, ideological aspects, experience of Socialism, passionate energetics, humanistic principle

Igor Sukmanov

Femina triumphant

Review of Angelina Nikonova's TWILIGHT PORTRAIT (Russia).

Analyzing Angelina Nikonova's TWILIGHT PORTRAIT the author arrives at the conclusion about its depth and actuality — both formal and notional. This innovative for Russian cinema work is a polemical provocation representing absurdity of the masculine world order. The author considers justified Nikonova's comparing to Ursula Antoniak and Andrea Arnold whose rough and sometimes repulsive works challenge domineering film aesthetics associated with the male look.

TWILIGHT PORTRAIT, Angelina Nikonova, feminist art, provocation, masculine world order

Zara Abdullayeva

Differance

Review of Oleg Fliangolts' INDIFFERENCE (Russia).

The review of Oleg Fliangolts' INDIFFERENCE, prize-winner of the Kinotavr film festival. Analyzing specific twofold optics of the picture, the author marks mastery of the helmer constructing refracted reality luring the viewer into a trap of double optical delusion, into illusion of presence/non-presence; also impression of plunging into carnival elements, impregnating the very texture of the film.

INDIFFERENCE, Oleg Fliangolts, twofold optics, refracted reality, carnival elements

Natalya Sirivlya

Tomorrow will be worse than yesterday

Review of Vladimir Kott's GROMOZEKA (Russia).

Range of problems, stylistics and formal composition of Vladimir Kott's GROMOZEKA are investigated. The critic marks certain attraction nature of the picture, conventionality of atemporal post-Soviet space, created by the helmer, as well as his peculiar keenness on details and formal tricks which finally step out on the forestage overshadowing psychological aspects of the characters' behavior and giving the effect of cool defamiliarization.

GROMOZEKA, Vladimir Kott, attraction nature, formal composition, conventionality of space, psychological aspects, defamiliarization

Olga Shakina

Third film syndrome

Review of Igor Voloshin's THE BEDOUIN (Russia).

Viewing Igor Voloshin's THE BEDOUIN in the context of the young filmmaker's creation as the bright representative of the Russian new wave, the author marks specifics and volatility of the helmer's style: mixture of different genres, roaming from one aesthetic into another, experimentation, combination of intuitive and rational methods. Admitting aesthetical and formal qualities of the picture, the critic nonetheless marks it as the helmer's retreat from earlier violent visionary stylistics.

THE BEDOUIN, Igor Voloshin, Russian new wave, mixture of different genres, experimentation, visionary stylistics

Angelika Artyukh

Ideological comedy

Review of Avdotya Smirnova's TWO DAYS (Russia).

Considering Avdotya Smirnova's picture TWO DAYS in the context of traditional genre romcom, the author singles out some peculiarities, setting off the helmer's work against the background of other films of the same genre in Russian cinema. The author suggests that it should be noted as a «Russian radical romcom» sui generis. Anyhow marking gradual simplification of radicalism of initial intention at the expense of minimalization of subject matter and actors' tasks, the author admits the presence of important semantic aspects concerning actual problems of Russian society and its ideology.

TWO DAYS, Avdotya Smirnova, romcom, simplification of radicalism, minimalization of subject matter, actual problems of society, ideology

Direct oration

Excerpts from the festival press conferences.

Irina Lyubarskaya:

«Shorts are the best trainer»

Conversed by Elena Stishova. Sochi-2011: Kinotavr. Shorts competition.

Tamara Dondurei

Modifier of time

Review of Mikhail Mestetsky's INSIGNIFICANT DETAILS OF THE ACCIDENTAL EPISODE (Russia).

Mikhail Mestetsky's short INSIGNIFICANT DETAILS OF THE ACCIDENTAL EPISODE is treated. The work is considered in the context of the classical ontological motive of a train's stop which became a vagrant metaphor of existence, jam-up in space on the border between the past and future, dream and reality, desideratum and real. Disclosing multiple semantic allusions and interpretations walled up in this surrealistic picture based on hyperboles, the author states the depth and aesthetic maturity of the director's message.

INSIGNIFICANT DETAILS OF THE ACCIDENTAL EPISODE, Mikhail Mestetsky, motive of a train's stop, border between dream and reality, aesthetic maturity, allusion

Elena Paisova

Bolt

Review of Mikhail Segal's FASTENER SOLUTIONS (Russia).

The Kinotavr film festival prize-winner FASTENER SOLUTIONS by Mikhail Segal is considered. The author treats the process of actualization of such classical and even trivial theme as marriage and family well-being as well as validation of new behavioral schemes and psychological orientations of a contemporary man through the means of short films — grotesque, surreal, anecdotal and nevertheless extremely truthful.

FASTENER SOLUTIONS, Mikhail Segal, actualization of classical theme, behavioral schemes, orientations, grotesque, anecdotal

Andrei Smirnov

Golden time for life

Conversed by Victor Matizen.

Denis Dragunsky

To catch «Zoroaster»

Personal rubric.

Oleg Berezin

Modeled on perpetuum mobile

Conversed by Daniil Dondurei.

Ksenia Leontyeva

How to sell a movie in Russia

Specialists of Nevafilm Research Company Oleg Berezin (general manager) and Ksenia Leontyeva (general analyst) discuss the problems of film distribution in Russia.

«Let's go to cinema!» — gone forever

Cinema viewers in the web.

Round table talk.

Pavel Finn, Jerzy Hoffman