For a whole week, the filmmakers met with the public, talked about the filming process, and answered questions. Any, even the most tricky and sensitive ones: “Why did you make this movie? Why did you kill your heroine? Why did you go to Georgia to film? What films inspired you? Did you like our city? Why are cinemas being torn down in Nizhny Novgorod, or are they in the hands of private owners?” By the way, one of the business meetings was dedicated to film production in the Nizhny Novgorod Region. It was attended by the Minister of Culture of the Nizhny Novgorod Region Natalia Sukhanova, as well as the director of the film “Liar” Yulia Trofimova and producer Katerina Mikhailova, producer of the film “Nevada” Darya Shlifshteyn, which were filmed right on this land.
The jury named the Yakut film “King Lear” by the famous film and theater director Sergei Potapov as the best film of the festival. Some viewers praised the acting, direction, close-ups, while others left without watching even half of it. The film was shot in the Yakut language and has Russian and English subtitles. The director did not come to the festival, but one of the scriptwriters, Angella Popova, conveyed his gratitude to the viewers “for coming to see this strange film.”
Another Yakut film did not go unnoticed – the 11-minute “Torbasa, or How We Chopped Meat” by Nikita Davydov. It won two prizes – “Best Drama” and “For Courage and Originality”. And it was made by a debutant in cinema, a chef by profession.
The audience was delighted with the film “Razezd”, a short comedy in which Maria Smolnikova (who eventually won the jury prize for “Best Actress”), Maxim Stoyanov and Tatyana Dogileva played brilliantly. It also won the audience award. “For many on our team, this was a debut,” said director Maria Melenevskaya.
We enjoyed watching the comedy “Poplar Fluff” by Artem Lempert and Kirill Klepalov – accompanied by the songs of “Ivanushki”.
The film “The Master and Margarita” by director Mikhail Lokshin (2024), which was shown in cinemas, caused an unexpected stir here – the screening took place at the Nizhny Novgorod stadium, in the open air. Although it was an evening screening (it started at 22:30), turning into night. “This is a fantastic, mesmerizing spectacle, incomparable to anything!” – the audience admired.
On the huge screen in the summer cinema – on the stadium field – they watched “The Bremen Town Musicians”, three versions (by Inessa Kovalevskaya, Vasily Livanov, Alexey Nuzhny), and “The Last Knight. The Root of Evil”, and at 00:00 – “Brother 2”. And all for free.
And in the evening, in the open air, you could watch the film “The Flying Ship” by Ilya Uchitel, which premiered in March of this year, and the masterpiece of Garry Bardin, filmed at the Soyuzmultfilm studio in 1979.
And in the Pakgauzy Cultural Center they showed the fairytale silent film “Morozko” by Yuri Zhelyabuzhsky (1924!) with live musical performance. In the role of the pianist – the famous pianist, organist, composer and improviser Filipp Cheltsov. The audience called it a miracle.
Of course, the impressions and opinions of the audience vary. Some applaud, shout “Bravo!” and tell the creators: “Thank you very much for such a wonderful film!” Others leave the hall, dissatisfied or outraged by what is happening on the screen. There were such reviews: “The film “Against the Wind” should be shown in schools – as a historical document of the era.” And after the screening of the psychological drama “I Hear You” the following questions were asked: “Who did you film this for?”, “Are you going to continue filming nasty things? Then you are a socially dangerous person”, “How did they even select this film for the competition? Protect us from such films.”
Director Ivan Yudin, who presented the project “Secrets of Karenina” at the festival, a unique research series that combines documentary and artistic forms, heard many warm, kind words from the audience. Experts (a psychologist, a historian, a museum researcher, directors, writer Pavel Basinsky, author of the book “The True Story of Anna Karenina”) discuss Leo Tolstoy’s novel “Anna Karenina”, and actors audition for a non-existent film adaptation.
“You are the first viewers. This is a premiere, and how nice that it is taking place in such magnificent interiors. And a full house. This is a great miracle!” – the filmmakers admired. They came to Nizhny from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yakutsk, Yoshkar-Ola, Perm…
Residents of Nizhny Novgorod wrote on social networks and in the halls said to the festival organizers: “Thank you for the wonderful holiday you gave to the city, residents and fans of our Russian cinema”, “All the films are very interesting, they make you think, they cause debates, emotions, discussions, and that’s the most important thing. Bravo!”, “All the stars calmly go to the conversation, I sat in the hall surrounded by these wonderful actors and directors”, “The program is excellent! Thanks to Andrey Apostolov for it. A wonderful, very cool festival!”
Question answer
“RG” asked questions to film critic Andrei Apostolov, program director of the Gorky Fest festival.
Is this a tradition at your festival – documentaries compete with feature films, full-length films and short films in the same competition?
Andrey Apostolov: Yes, it has been like this since the first year. But I didn’t come up with it – I’ve been working at the festival for three years. This “hodgepodge” is a special feature of the Gorky Fest festival. It’s an experiment, an attraction for the audience, it won’t let you get bored…
Can you single out the dominant genre in the program? For example, drama?
Andrey Apostolov: Hardly. I was trying to put together a harmonious program, to present a multifaceted palette, different genres, formats, so that there would be no sense of repetition anywhere.
20 films – isn’t that a lot for a competition?
Andrey Apostolov: Not many. It would be possible to even increase their number, considering that many of them are short films, say, 8 or 14 minutes long. And the jury members agreed that the conditions for work here are quite comfortable.
How many applications for participation did you receive?
Andrey Apostolov: More than 500. Many are shocked by this figure: the huge volume, how many films need to be watched, comprehended! But I assure you: this is not the serious problem. When there are 50 worthy films from which you need to choose 20 – that’s where the torment begins…
All the films were premieres, they were not at other festivals or in distribution. Nizhny Novgorod residents saw them on the big screen first. Is this a tradition of your festival?
Andrey Apostolov: No. This year we only aimed at premiere screenings.
Will you come up with something different next year?
Andrey Apostolov: Certainly.
By the way
Photo: Svetlana Mazurova
The Gorky Fest festival has ended, but Nizhny Novgorod residents still have the opportunity to visit the exhibition “Fairytale Outfits. Costumes for the film “The Flying Ship”. It is located in the Russian Museum of Photography and is available for visiting until July 30. And these are not photographs, but real costumes in which the actors were filmed. Their author is the famous St. Petersburg costume designer Nadezhda Vasilyeva-Balabanova.
Source: rg.ru
