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Dovlatov

Competition 2018
© SAGa
Leningrad, November 1971. The city is shrouded in fog. Another anniversary of the revolution is being celebrated, but the country is not making any progress – politically, economically or culturally. Sergei has first-hand experience of this stasis. The young writer’s manuscripts are regularly rejected by the official media; his view on things and people is not desired. Others are experiencing similar problems, one of them is his friend Joseph Brodsky whom the state forces into exile. Sergei is however determined to stay and lead a normal life with his wife Lena and daughter Katya. He wants to write about discovering reality: about shipyard workers, or the construction of the metro where one day the bodies of thirty children killed during the Second World War are uncovered.
Alexey German Jr’s film makes use of grand tableaux and extended tracking shots to portray the world of Russian-Jewish writer Sergei Dovlatov (1941–1990), whose brilliantly ironic texts were forbidden from being printed in the Soviet Union under Brezhnev. Out of a tragicomic rondeau of rebellion and assimilation, pain and fatigue, ensues a portrait of an era of stagnation and its destructive effects.
by Alexey German Jr.
with Milan Marić, Danila Kozlovsky, Helena Sujecka, Artur Beschastny, Elena Lyadova, Anton Shagin, Svetlana Khodchenkova, Piotr Gasowski, Eva Gerr, Hanna Sleszynska Russian Federation / Poland / Serbia 2018 Russian 126’ Colour World premiere

With

  • Milan Marić (Sergei Dovlatov)
  • Danila Kozlovsky (David)
  • Helena Sujecka (Elena Dovlatova)
  • Artur Beschastny (Joseph Brodsky)
  • Elena Lyadova (Young editor)
  • Anton Shagin (Anton Kuznetsov)
  • Svetlana Khodchenkova (Actress)
  • Piotr Gasowski (Semyon Aleksandrovich)
  • Eva Gerr (Katya Dovlatova)
  • Hanna Sleszynska (Editor of literary magazine)

Crew

Director Alexey German Jr.
Screenplay Alexey German Jr., Tupikina
Cinematography Łukasz Żal
Editing Sergey Ivanov, Darya Gladysheva
Sound Design Ivan Gusakov
Production Design Elena Okopnaya
Costumes Elena Okopnaya
Make-Up Natalya Ratkevich
Casting Vladimir Golov, Anna Sagalovich, Violetta Bul
Producers Andrey Savelyev, Artem Vasilyev, Konstantin Ernst
Co-Producers Rushan Nasibulin, Maxim Lojevsky, Dariusz Jabłoński, Izabela Wojcik, Violeta Kamniska, Miroslav Mogorović, Eduard Pichugin
Co-Production Message Film Warschau
Art&Popcorn Belgrad
Lenfilm St. Petersburg

World Sales

Alpha Violet

http://www.alphaviolet.com http://www.alphaviolet.com

Produced by

SAGa

Metrafilms

https://metrafilms.ru https://metrafilms.ru

Channel One

Photos

Press Conference

Red Carpet

Alexey German Jr.

© Pascal Le Segretain Getty Images

Born in Moscow in the former USSR in 1976, he studied at the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography (VGIK). His feature film debut The Last Train won the Luigi de Laurentiis Special Mention award at the 2003 Venice International Film Festival. His third film Paper Soldier also screened at Venice in 2008 where it won awards including the Silver Lion for Best Direction. Under Electric Clouds participated in the 2015 Berlinale Competition and won a Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution.

Filmography

1998 Znamya (Banner); short film 1999 Bolshoje osenneje pole (Big Autumn Field) 2001 Durachki (Fools); short film 2003 Poslednij poezd (The Last Train) 2005 Garpastum 2008 Paper Soldier 2011 From Tokyo; short film 2015 Pod electricheskimi oblakami (Under Electric Clouds) 2018 Dovlatov

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2018