26 June 2009 // 13:34

31st Moscow International Film Festival. Day Seven.

On June 25, 2009 on the 31^st MIFF theur spoke about Russian-Polish relations and sexual problems of the Europeans, examined the son of David Bowie and thanked the sponsors. Meanwhile the film critics started to define the potential winners of the festival. 

MIFF Main Competition was presented on Thursday by the Polish “Little Moscow” (“Mala Moskwa”). The film is about love between a young girl and a Polish officer in the 60s of the 20^th century. The movie was represented at MIFF by the film director Waldemar Krzystek, the leading role actress Svetlana Khodchenkova, actress Elena Leszczynska and producer Eva Yatsuta. The film action takes place in a Polish town Legnitsa (Legnica), in enclosure, in the times of the Soviet occupation. “I wouldn’t even start working if I were not sure the film would be understood and appreciated by both Russians and Polish,” – said the film director. But surprisingly problems occurred with the film acceptance. For 5 years the film director looked for a co-producer for the project in Russia but with no luck. The script was not admitted due to the political reasons as the Soviet army has the negative image in the film. Polish producers either did not feel like investing into the “Little Moscow” considering that the film was about Russian history and had nothing to do with Poland. Eventually the film was released and even warmly accepted by the Polish. At the film festival in Gdynia the film got the Grand-Prix and 5 other awards and Svetlana Khodchenkova was awarded as the best leading actress. The movie touches a very difficult historical period and complicated relations between the USSR and Poland but that was not what worried the film director most of all: “I wanted to express the people’s souls, to show what’s inside of them, reveal the stereotypes… The times have passed and only real feelings and love stayed.” The “Little Moscow” story is based on the real love story. By the way Mr. Krzystek learned about this unusual affair from his mother when they lived in the Legnica. And the episode of christening Armenian kids he witnessed himself. “These real stories made me feel and realize particular things very deeply and I wanted to reflect them,” - Waldemar Krzystek added. The film director considers his merit the fact that he was the first one to refer to the forbidden topic: the film shows Soviet army that stayed in Poland at that time. “I showed the Russians the way I know them and love them,” – specified Krzystek. “This is my biography, my view-point and my position. The film is in first turn honest and sincere.”

“As God Commands”(“Come Dio comanda”) – an Italian screening also included into the Main Competition program. The film was represented in Moscow my the leading role actor Filippo Timi on behalf of the film director Gabriele Salvatores.  The film was shot after the novel by the famous Nicholo Ammaniti: “But the book is much more detailed than the film… It has 4 main heroes while there are only 3 in the movie.” Mr. Timi considers Salvatores a man of the Shakespeare level. Similar to the “Midsummer Night’s Dream” everything drastically changes in the film within 1 night. The actor also mentioned that today in Italy many people have the problems similar to the ones the film heroes have. Including the conflicts between the Italians and the migrants coming to his Europe searching for job. The actor laughingly complained about the director who cruelly cut out huge pieces from the footage disregarding the hard work the shooting had required. For instance for 2 weeks they had to work in a forest where it was raining all the time – according to the script. And almost all the rest scenes were meant to be extremely emotional. The actor was very cheerful when talking to the press. The reason was simple – he was very glad to be in Moscow. His soul has a lot in common with Russian culture – at the age of 20 Filippo dreamt of playing Mayakovsky and at the age of 25 wanted to play Chekhov.

The film “Koma” (”Coma”) by Ludwig Wüst was of a special interest for the journalists. The film participates in the “Perspectives” competition. Austrian cinema is now in its “new wave” period – the “made in Austria” films are more often selected for the major competitions of the leading international festivals and film critics point out new stars coming out from the Austrian cinematograph. The “Koma”has become another Austrian revelation for the Muscovites. The screening was represented by a very big 8-people delegation:  all the leading actors and of course the film director Ludwig Wüst. “I’m very glad that so many Austrian film find their way,” – ha said. “But for me the most important thing is to be here in Moscow with my new product.” “Koma” is a tough drama with a complicated plot. Starting with a simple family story the film turns out to be a detective disclosure of the European society fulfilled with psychological pollution based on sadism and masochism esthetics. “The script was inspired by a real story. A man’s addiction to sadist pornography broke the real family,” – said Ludwig Wüst. “And I wanted to examine the problem, not mentioning the fact that in Europe pornography problem is very relevant now especially with the Internet development.” The “Koma” director very carefully examines sexual deviations of the usual Europeans diagnosing not a single person but the socium as a doctor. No wonder when a journalist asked Ludwig Wüst if the sexual deviations have become the real problem of the contemporary civilized society, with no delay he said “yes”.

The “Perspectives” competition also included the “Moon” film. The talented boy of the great musician, Duncan Jones shot a film with a scent of the science fiction of the 2^nd half of the 20^th century. And he did it so brilliantly that the critics admitted the film has the spirit of Ray Bradbury. But Duncan Jones confessed he admired another master of the genre – Stanley Kubrick. “Kubrick is a great man,” – revealed Jones. “His “Space Odissey” has become a milestone of the world cinematography for those shooting fantasy.” The leading role was played by Sam Rockwell. “My film is based not on a fantastic novel but on my personal experience and emotions. The film script was written especially for Sam Rockwell,” – said Duncan Jones. “I had a row of ideas how to use this talented actor. Finally I chose the variant of a film of 70s-80s. The main distribution hits at those times were screening like “Alien”, “Space Odissey 2001” and others. Fantasy film directors were mostly focused on a personality, heroes’ characters. Compare to what we have now – the distribution hits of today like “Transformers” are focused on special effects. I wanted to get back to where we started.”

Film “Kromov” directed by Andrey Rezenkov listed on Gala-Premieres was represented by the film director, producer general Konstantin Filimonov, actors Vladimir Vdovichenkov and Mikhail Gorev. “Kromov” in the producers’ opinion is the film fully meant for the audience. It does not pretend to have a author’s vision or to be art-house. It can be also named a producer’s project. “We wanted to be as simple as possible when telling this story, with no special tools or new trends, very sincerely,” – explained Mr. Razenkov.  This is a fully Konstantin Filimonov’s project: he appears to be the producer general, the idea’s author, the script co-writer and the investor. Also at the press-conference he looked like the chief. He had a strong desire to shoot a historic film. According to Filimonov, he was the one to select the literature source – a novel by Alexey Ignatiev “50 Years In Formation”. The film production took more than 2 years and the budget was 4,000,000 euro. “I know the film is about myself… It is a fully Russian film. Many foreigners will not understand it. But to be honest we made the film according to how we felt but not to how much money we had,” – said the producer proudly. “I feel no shame for the result. I’ve spent my life not in vain.” The film director confirmed that in first turn he shot a story of love and choice of a strong-character man’s. At the press-conference journalists noticed that Vladimir Vdovichenkov looks very much alike Vladimir Vysotsky. “I just look alike Vysotsky – that’s it,” – answered the actor. After the 31^st MIFF a great future is expecting the “Kromov” – 14 international festivals are ready to include the film into their programs.

On June 25 in the “Porto Cervo” restaurant located in “Oktyabr” cinema the festival held an awarding ceremony for its sponsors and partners. Honored diplomas “For True Help” were handed in to the companies representatives personally by the MIFF President Nikita Mikhalkov. “It is a very tough period… But our true friends are with us. Some of them are missing for a while but I realize that there is a need in the festival, and it will not survive without your help and I do hope we will manage to stand this period and we’ll reach the possibility to support the festival with no pains... Your support is really appreciated,” – greeted Nikita Mikhalkov the participants. The diplomas were given to the 31^st MIFF partner “Megafon” JSC, official drink “Ahmad Tea”, official sponsors “Gazbank”, “Russky Standart”, official make-up “L’Oreal Paris”, general informational partner “Kommersant” publishing house, strategic informational partner “Izvestia”, official radio “Europa Plus”, sponsor “Professional Cinema Department of “KODAL” LLC”, official Internet-partner “Rambler”, official stylist “InStyle” magazine, informational partners “Hello!” magainze, “Kinobusiness Segodnya” magazine, informational agency “RIA Novosti” and “Svoj” magazine.  

All the sponsors promised not to leave the MIFF in the crisis period and to definitely proceed with the cooperation next year. “It is a great honor for me. I have been connected with MIFF for a long time already. In 1987 it was my first time when I came here being a little girl. It was love from the first sight. I do hope our cooperation will last in future,” – said Svetlana Bondarchuk, “Hello!” magazine chief editor.