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Artdocfest. St. Petersburg
Artdocfest. St. Petersburg
28
movies
Artdocfest
Artdocfest
April 06, 2021
The "Artdocfest" festival in St. Petersburg was closed due to the decision of the city authorities, but by agreement with the copyright holders we were able to open some films for paid viewing ONLY on the territory of the Russian Federation during the days of festival until April 10, 2021 inclusive.
In a quiet and snowy Chechen village, mother tells her daughter about the return of Zara – their relative, who left this place 20 years ago. Outside, the whole world is hidden in a thick white fog. For both women, the upcoming meeting is a bright event in their dull daily life that they are very much looking forward to.
Time is
8
Zaur Kourazov
Belgium, 2019
21 min
Chechen, Russian
Russian, English
The once exemplary livestock and dairy farm in the Altai region are now declining. Milk cows live here. Their whole life passes between the barn and the "maternity ward". Everything here is subordinated to the task of obtaining a useful product. All days at the farm have the same schedule: morning milking, evening milking, “maternity ward”, dairy. The milkmaids arrive early, when it is still dark. People come into the space inhabited by cows, combining animals and mechanisms, creating hybrids — cows with mechanical udders. In the evening, the milkmaids come and milk the cows again. The milk is transported to the dairy section and from there, it leaves the farm. Calves are born in the “maternity ward”, where cows can temporarily return to their natural life. Several women perform these extremely hard and low-paid jobs to keep the barn alive. This is life on a farm.
Daybreak, sunset, cow milk
8
Marina Fomenko
Russia, 2020
23 min
Russian
The fire took away not only the property of Alexander, but also his freedom. He moves to live with his mother, where he begins a new life following the established rules. The main rule: no alcohol in the house. Otherwise there will be a scandal. Alexander begins to look for a suitable group of companions who would have a drink, but everyone he meets has his own problems, and to solve them, Alexander is forced to reveal his talent – the ability to predict the future.
Gift
8
Valentin Sidorenko
Russia, 2020
51 min
Russian
English
Jacob Janzen was arrested in 1938 and his family never saw him since. 80 years later his great-granddaughter Maria Lotsmanova comes to the Federal Security Service (FSB) archive to find out his fate.
I have nothing to add
7
Tanya Stefanenko
Russia, 2020
11 min
Russian
English
Among Indian elephants, German service, calendars with kittens and Stalin, there are hundreds of little things. The real story is hard to see. Life, told over a cup of tea, is like a mosaic going into the terrible history of the country. Volunteers of the Gulag History Museum go to witnesses and victims of Stalin's repressions in order to re-collect evidence of the time and understand something about themselves.
Free Days
7
Giuri Dzhohadze, Olesya Horoshih
Russia, 2020
48 min
Russian
Russian, English
Papa Srapa is the main shaman of Russian avant-garde sound. A musician known for his insane, mind blowing noise performances. An artist and inventor who creates absolutely unpredictable synthesizers, each of which is a unique object of art.
Papa Srapa
7
Konstantin Ivanov, Nikita Kabardin
Russia, 2020
74 min
Russian
Russian, English
A story about the separation of a mother and her 3-year-old daughter who now live in different countries and cannot reunite due to visa problems. Every day they communicate via video chat and dream about meeting soon.
Don’t Hesitate to Come for a Visit, Mom
8
Anna Artemyeva
Belgium, Hungary, Portugal, Russia, 2020
12 min
Russian
English
The time for letters has passed. The last words that came from the Gulag became a document. The time of letters stood still then, but continues to tremble today. Evil repeats itself invariably. We try to remember events and destinies, but unceremonious history teaches nothing. Letters from eternity. Letters to the future.
The letters to the future
6
Igor Ushakov
Russia, 2020
74 min
Russian
In the 90s, Stasya and his dad were spending their summer holidays in Odessa with their grandmother. Their relatives from different cities of Russia were also coming there to enjoy the warm sea. 30 years later they meet again. This time in Moscow.
Stasya is me
8
Stasya Grankovskaya
Russia, Ukraine, 2020
60 min
Russian
Russian, English
The last days of August, in the early morning, a cool fog is felt on the skin, the wounds in a barrel of water seem silver, the rustle of birches is heard everywhere, and in the country house everything is shaking due to trains passing very close by, but it seems to you that these are some kind of huge animals pass by and, perhaps, look into the windows in the evenings while the lights are on. You go out onto the porch of the house and the movie begins.
Lyuba and Lyuba
7
Anastasia Kulikova
Russia, 2020
16 min
Russian
This is the story of a provincial Russian family told by a ten-year-old boy Stepa with sincere spontaneity. Due to his age, the merciless reality, where he is surrounded by eternally drunk relatives and an unkempt life, is refracted through the purity of perception. “Boy” is a portrait of a child who has not yet experienced the bitterness of life, who is still happy, still finds joy everywhere and smiles with a bright smile without thinking about the future.
A Boy
8
Vitaliy Akimov
Russia, 2020
52 min
Russian
Russian, English
Kunashir, one of the biggest islands of the Kuril Archipelago, is situated 16 kilometers from Japan. It was occupied by the Soviet army in 1945. One year later, after a short period of cohabitation, 17.000 Japanese and Ainu people who were living in the Kurils and on Sakhalin were deported to the island of Hokkaido. Since that time Japan has been demanding the return of the Kuril Islands. A peace treaty between the two countries still has not been signed.
Kunashir
8
Vladimir Kozlov
France, 2019
71 min
Russian
English
What do we know about clinical drug trials in humans? Strange things sometimes happen behind the doors of medical institutions, which are customary to remain silent. The film is about several volunteers who decide to trade their health for money without thinking about the consequences.
Placebo
7
Yuliya Kudris
Russia, 2020
27 min
Russian
A lovesick misfit, a mysterious beauty, a retired civil servant, a randy fortuneteller and a couple of doubtful, young, charismatic lovers meet in late summer on a Russian river cruise. They have one thing in common – similar emotional problems of suffering and doubts. However, they’ve come to the right place. River cruises in Russia are sometimes called “floating matchmaking agencies”. What does fate have in store for them?
Bitter Love
8
Jerzy Sladkowski
Sweden, Poland, Finland, 2020
86 min
Russian
English
Alone explores the existential pain of Ukraine through the eyes of an unlikely protagonist, one of the country’s most commercially successful pop stars. Andriy Khluvniuk, lead singer of hip-hop rock band Boombox, has millions of devoted young fans who adore him as a singer songwriter and sex symbol but know nothing of his personal turmoil caused by the political instability and military aggression in his homeland. Andriy is on a mission to raise awareness and motivate his fans to join him in taking a stand against the war in the east of Ukraine, and call for the release of Oleg Sentsov, a Ukrainian filmmaker and political prisoner in Russia. As tensions between Ukraine and Russia become a footnote on the world’s media agenda, Andriy use his fame to refocus the global spotlight on the fragile independence Ukraine is fighting for. The film culminates in an incredible sequence of events that result in Oleg Sentsov's release in a prisoner swap. Andriy and Oleg can meet each other at last.

The film is available for viewing only on the territory of the Russian Federation.
Alone
6
Nicolai Khalezin, Natalia Kaliada, Andrew Smith
UK, 2020
83 min
Russian, Belarusian, Ukrainian
Our house immerses into the silence of the night, is covered with long shadows, plays with occasional flashes of the warm flame of a kerosene lamp. Darkness for little Stesha turns out to be a tool for the discovery of another world, sometimes scary, sometimes fascinating. Fragments of vague memories, voices, flashes of light – the precious feelings of early childhood that remain with us forever.
Shadows of Your Childhood
9
Mikhail Gorobchuk
Russia, 2019
21 min
Russian
English
Sabina saw in a dream an ideal place to live away from civilization. To find this place she leaves the parental home and goes with her husband Sergei and one-year-old Yasya to Altai. The road turns into a nightmare of daily quarrels. Sabina does not want to help with the child, clean up and cook, and Sergei gets tired of endless scandals. Against the background of growing irritation with each other, Sabina's dreams are increasingly detached from reality. But the journey continues.
One Step Forward, One Step Back
7
Agniia Galdanova
Russia, 2020
60 min
Russian
In the circus tent „Joy” the same thing happens every day – they dismantle and assemble the tent with a dome full of stars, give performances, and move on to the next place. Lynx and parrot trainers quarrel over every little thing, and Valera the clown always performs alone. Until one day a new partner joins him, the clown Yana, and he starts to dream about conquering the world of the circus together with her.
Joy
8
Darya Slyusarenko
Russia, 2020
63 min
Russian
English
A brutal alpha male who does not respect women decides to return the favor of one of his former passions in order to increase self-esteem. But in the end, he discovers feelings in himself that he had never thought about before.
Alfaromeo
7
Radik Rahimov
Russia, 2020
27 min
Russian
English
The Okrestin Sisters is a Belarus Free Theatre (BFT) and Creatives Politics Hub production, shot and directed by a film-maker and BFT ensemble member, Kolya Kuprich. This short captures the first moments upon the release and the immediate witness accounts of three BFT members who were arrested in Minks on August 9th 2020, following the Presidential Election. BFT's General Managers, Nadia Brodskaya and Svetlana Sugako, along with the BFT actor Dasha Andreyanova were rounded up and detained while peacefully waiting for the results of the election at a local polling station. What followed their detention, was a surreal cascade of a Kafkaesque, bureaucratic judiciary system met by brutal, Gestapo-type assault on innocent citizens of Belarus. All happening away from the cameras, behind closed doors, inside authoritarian prisons. The creators of the film want the shed light on what took place in Belarusian prisons during the detentions of August 9-14.
The Okrestin Sisters
6
Kolya Kuprich
Belarus, 2020
16 min
Russian
English
"Birthmark" - is director's documentary journey - physical and metaphysical. Maria's mother was diagnosed with schizophrenia, when the girl was two years old. Now Maria documents her journey to Crimea in search of crucial answers - could her mother have more bearable life and how to get there, why the illness becomes a stigma and what are the ways to being together, but not just physically. Maria in search of Mother, under the sign of birthmark.
Birthmark
6
Maria Shevchenko
Ukraine, 2020
20 min
Russian
An old woman lives in a remote village in Belarus. While the end of her life approaches, she starts to read the worn-out notebooks of her daughter. Together we go on a journey to the unknown world of a person who is abandoned and forgotten by everybody.
I Need the Handshakes
8
Andrei Kutsila
Poland, Belarus, 2020
18 min
Russian, Belarusian
English
The protagonist researcher Dmytro Gromov and the cameraman Angel Angelov are embarking on a dangerous mission: both are planning to cross about 50 km of an inhospitable desert in order to illegally enter the protected hangars of Baikonur and watch the launch of the rocket. The heat of the desert reaches almost 47 degrees Celsius. Dehydration, starvation, physical and psychological exhaustion are not the only difficulties on their way to Baikonur. The guys are risking to be arrested and put in jail if they will be spotted by the Russian military forces, since the Cosmodrome is under the legislation of the Russian Federation. The adrenaline of discovery finally overtakes the fear of getting caught. The investigation of the classified object turns into the exploration of the self.
Breaking into Baikonur
9
Angel Angelov
Ukraine, 2020
67 min
Russian, Ukrainian
English
Chukotka is a place located on the edge of Siberia, where the cold winter lasts for ten months. It's a severe land, where only the strongest are able to survive. One of the oldest Siberian tribes lives there for centuries. Its traditions, culture and life in harmony with nature were brutally destroyed by the Soviet regime. Since the collapse of the USSR, they have been trying to survive, missing the wisdom of their ancestors and hope for the future. One of the last sources of life and tradition of Chukchi is whale hunting, but the fate of this old tradition is also threatened. For the Chukchi people, the whales give hope to survive the next winter. When the land of Lorino warms up from the sun, the hunting begins. It is a battle between two worlds, and each of them is on the edge of disappearing forever.
The Whale from Lorino
8
Maciej Cuske
Poland, 2019
59 min
Russian
English
Jasmin and Jastrip are both 12 years old and live in Kiev. Jasmin is a girl from a loving family, who wants to excel at all cost. Jastrip is a boy, who is neglected and simply wants to find a place where he is loved. They both visit the Azovez camp which aims to raise a new class of patriotic warriors for a Ukraine of tomorrow. There the kids learn how to be real Ukrainians, to fight, to shoot, to yell, to get orders and to give orders. And over time this changes them.
Summerwar
7
Moritz Schulz
Germany, 2019
78 min
Ukrainian, Russian
English
In 2018, an agreement was signed on the transfer of Ingush lands to the Chechen Republic. The Ingush protested and fought for justice. After the next rallies in 2019, the criminal prosecution of the leaders and participants of the protest began.
Doazuv (Border)
7
Maryana Kalmykova
Russia, 2020
68 min
Russian, Ingush
Russian
Six months is exactly the amount that 36-year-old Natasha has from the moment of release from the correctional colony on parole to the subpoena, where the term of supervision will be decided, because neither the state nor society has confidence in people like Natasha. Six months to implement the plan called "I'm here." Here means in the planetarium, in the Tretyakov Gallery, on a hike with childhood friends, at work, with relatives. And next to her father, to whom Natasha has yet to tell the whole truth. She believes that she will be able to restore broken ties with the world, with people, with herself. And then, perhaps, not only the court, but also the viewer will stand up for her defense.
#IAMHERE
7
Valentina Bulaeva
Russia, 2020
100 min
Russian
English
The film tells the story of the Chernobyl accident through a mosaic of unique personal testimonies of its participants. The experiences of the difficult past and the sad outcome of the present recreate the complete picture of the accident 30 years later.
Back to Chernobyl
7
Roman Shumunov
Israel, 2020
54 min
Russian, Hebrew
Russian

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