Everybody Dies But Me

Colour, 35 mm
Russia, 2008, 85 min
Section: A Female Take on Russia

Synopsis

Three 14-year-old girls, Katya, Zhanna and Vika, find out that a school disco is to be held the following weekend. During the preparations for Saturday’s big event, which include thinking up ways to get hold of some elusive alcohol, their hitherto rock-solid friendship is put to the test. Problems between them come to a head, revealing hidden insecurities and complicated relationships with their parents. The girls’ naïve preconceptions are confronted with a reality far removed from their dreams. Debuting director Valeria Gai Germanika allows her experience as a documentary filmmaker to aid her in her approach, which she illustrates in the following words: "I make films based on what I know, on what I’ve seen, on my own experiences. I shoot where I live, because I can’t do it any other way.” This story about the trials of adolescence set in a Moscow suburb is told with raw conviction and without embellishment, and rendered all the more compelling for the truly convincing performances of all three young actresses.

About the director

Valeria Gai Germanika (b. 1984, Moscow) studied at the Internews Film and Television School, graduating in 2005. She has made several documentaries: Sisters (Sestri, 2005), Girls (Dyevochki, 2005), Boys (Malchiki, 2006) and Infanta’s Birthday (Dyen rozhdeniya infanty, 2007). Her feature film debut Everybody Dies But Me was screened during Critics’ Week at last year’s Cannes Film Festival, where it won two awards.