Film of the opening of the Moscow International Film Festival-2016
There is such a joke among the younger generation of filmmakers: if you want to “take” the audience, push for pity. What exactly provokes a naive, work-wrapped viewer? Well, for example, children and people with disabilities. True, just children are not so interesting. Who, one wonders, has not seen the children, and why weep over them. Disabled adults, of course, are not bad either, but something is still missing. We must combine! At this point, the audience will definitely not have a single chance to leave the hall with dry eyes and a cold heart. Actually, Sergei Solovyov's film "Ke-dy", which will be shown first, combines absolutely all the necessary ingredients for "crying": a young man named Jagger, before serving in the army, plans to buy himself fashionable sneakers, and instead finds himself in bed with a mysterious girlfriend Amira. It would seem that it is quite a trivial plot, there are thousands of them,yes, there is every second, with one or another degree of originality. However, the next morning, finally, it becomes clear what the "salt" is - Amira has a child, of course, a sick, autistic, and of course, in connection with this sad fact, Amira's life is so hard that she plans to send her child to an orphanage. In short, a complete set - autism, children, an orphanage, plus we will flavor it all with a little bit of love. One can only hope for a good artistic embodiment. One can only hope for a good artistic embodiment. One can only hope for a good artistic embodiment.
Who are the leaders
In total, the main competition program will include 12 films: Danish-American film "37" Pook Grasten, Italian-French film "Intrigues" directed by David Grieko, Polish film "Eccentrics" by Janusz Majewski about the war emigrant Fabian, French film "Marie and the Losers" by Sebastian Betbeder, Reza Mirkarimi's "Daughter" from Iran, "The Voice of Things" by Ariel Escalante from Costa Rica, "Memory of Oblivion" by Brazilian director Rui Guerra, Korean film "The Worst of Women", German film "Center of My World", "Veil" from Philippines, Serbian Comedy "Diary of a Driver". Russia in the main competition will be represented by Nikolai Dostal's film "The Monk and the Devil".
Each of the films deserves special attention, but we decided to focus on films that, quite rightly, are predicted to be a real success.
"37", Pook Grasten (Denmark)
Despite the more than impressive program, the Danish painting 37 is the most talked about. The plot is based on a real story that happened in 1964. Then, in front of thirty-seven witnesses, the girl was raped and killed. Not a single person came to the aid of the victim of a maniac, not a single one gave evidence against him later. A film-reflection on the fate of 37 completely different people united by one single circumstance, all of them are indirectly responsible for the tragedy, all of them, in an attempt to close themselves in their own little world, did not pay attention to someone else's misfortune.
"Intrigues", David Grieco (Italy)
Italians are sensitive to cinema. Still, when you create in the sphere where Fellini, Mastroiani and Pasolini were before you, you cannot be mistaken. By the way, just about the last director, about Pier Paolo Pasolini, will be discussed in the film. The film about the last days of the maestro was shot by his assistant, Davie Grieko. At the heart of the plot is only partly a real story, without fiction and a flight of fantasy here it will not do. Before his death, Pasolini's negative film disappears. The director guesses who exactly is behind the theft, and in an attempt to get to the bottom of the truth falls into a deadly trap.
"Center of My World", Jacob M. Erva (Austria, Germany)
Another film of the competition program that deserves attention is "The Center of My World", by an Austrian director. Well, despite the fact that our country is often accused of lack of tolerance towards people with non-traditional sexual orientation, the appearance of this film in the main program speaks quite the opposite. Before us is the story of a schoolboy who falls in love with his classmate. The topic is dangerous, here it is easy to go into unpleasant details, which not everyone wants to know about, but on the contrary (as Abdelatif Keshish did in his time) tell a love story in such a way that gender will lose any meaning. In any case, the attempt arouses, if not delight, then to some extent curiosity, which means there is only one conclusion - it is necessary to look.
"The Monk and the Demon", Nikolay Dostal (Russia)
The only Russian tape in the competition program by Nikolai Dostal tells us about the novice of the male monastery (Timofey Tribuntsev). The main character has to overcome the temptation of the dark forces. In fact, the picture promises a non-trivial concept and rich subtext - a kind of mystical parable with elements of social drama. Special attention, according to critics, deserves the cinematography of Levan Kapanadze, who masterly filmed Alexander Kott's wordless drama "Test".
Out-of-competition program
"Endless Poetry", Alejandro Khodorkovsky (Chile, France)
A fairy tale of an adult - perhaps this is how you can define Khodorkovsky's tape. The film became a logical continuation of the artist's previous work “Dance of Reality. Like the previous film, Endless Poetry is a somewhat autobiographical story that tells us about the life of an abstract creative person making a difficult choice between reality, where there is no place for poetry, and existence in a world of dreams and fantasies. The main character will make a choice in favor of the second, now he has to see life in all its beauty and even believe in miracles.
The Swiss Knife Man by Daniel Shinert, Dan Kwan (USA)
A New Story of Robinson Cruise and Friday, as the American film starring Paul Dano and Daniel Radcliffe is called. True, there is one fundamental difference between the old and new stories. This time, Hank, who finds himself on an uninhabited island, will not meet a native, but … find a corpse, moreover, make friends with him, as much as possible to make friends with a dead person. The deceased turns out to be quite multifunctional for himself and even in an incredible way helps the main character to survive, and even find the love of his life. How to relate to the tape, to perceive it as a product of the inflamed consciousness of directors or the highest manifestation of black humor is a personal matter for each individual viewer.
Lullaby of Sad Mystery by Love Diaz (Philippines)
The most important feature of this picture is its duration. The film is eight hours long, so if you decide to visit the cinema for Filipino cinema, you will have to spend all day on it. The picture tells about the history of the Philippine revolution and its main figure Andres Bonifacio. By the way, "Lullaby for a sad secret" was awarded the prize. Alfred Bauer for New Perspectives in Cinematography at the Berlin Film Festival this February.
Closing film
But the 38th Moscow International Film Festival will be closed by Woody Allen's film "High Life", already well known to us from the Cannes Film Festival. Allen is famous primarily not only for his ability to embody seemingly simple ideas in such a way that it is impossible to take your eyes off, but also for his impeccable directorial taste. That is, in other words, you can watch his paintings without any attempt to evaluate. You just need to enjoy. This time we will be told the story of a young and ambitious man who wants to conquer Hollywood. In the courtyard of the 30s of the last century, the hero of Jesse Eisenberg arrives in the city, where they become stars to conquer Olympus, at the same time falls in love with the heroine Kristen Stewart (who is already called the most sought-after actress of the year) and stubbornly moves through thorns to the stars. Allen's new tape was shown first in Cannes, wellit could well set the general mood in Moscow as well, but, on the other hand, it is perfect for a snack.
Jury and prizes
The jury will be headed by the Bulgarian director Ivaylo Hristov, whose film "Losers" received the Main Prize of the 37th Moscow Film Festival "Golden George". The main competition jury will also include director Ulrike Oettinger and Indian producer Randir Kapoor, the eldest son of actor Raj Kapoor. The jury of the short film competition will be chaired by the French documentary filmmaker Toma Balmes.
As you know, the main prize of the film festival is the golden statuette "St. George". The award was established back in 1989 (before that, the winners were supposed to be given gold medals) and is traditionally awarded to the winners in the following nominations: For Best Film, Special Jury Prize, For Best Director, For Best Actor, For Best Actress. In addition to the main prizes of the main competition program, there are a number of other, no less significant prizes for the best films of the Perspectives Competition, Short and Documentary Film Competitions, Prize for Contribution to World Cinema, Special Prize for conquering the heights of acting and adherence to the principles of the KS school. … Stanislavsky “I believe. Konstantin Stanislavsky ", Prize of the International Film Critics Jury (FIPRESCI), Audience Award, Prize of the Federation of Cinema Clubs of Russia.
This year the well-known jewelry and watch company Chopard became the official partner of the Moscow International Film Festival for the first time, presenting an updated design of all prizes, developed personally by the co-president and creative director Caroline Scheufele. The brand's Swiss workshops have produced 13 exclusive awards for actors, directors and producers.
This year, as a sign of respect and recognition of the special role of the chairman of the jury of the Moscow International Film Festival, the famous Swiss brand produced a gold chain with three gilded silver medallions, demonstrating the main symbol of the film festival.
Photo source: stills from movies
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