Lyoha Dostoevsky - A Descendant of a Genius

Colour, 35mm
Russia, 2001, 30 min
Section: Documentary Films in Competition

Synopsis

A film portrait of the famed Russian writer’s great-great-grandson, who lives a rather prosaic life as a Petersburg tram driver. In his free time he plays guitar in a jazz orchestra, and at the weekend takes care of horses at a nearby stable. He has a wife and child, but once considered taking orders. Being related to the great writer isn’t a problem because he has come to dignified terms with his own modest life and with the fact that he owes much to family tradition. His innate intelligence secures him relationships with interesting people and artists, and he is an equal and welcome member of intellectual discussions. He preserves in his memory not only family legends but also actual links to Dostoevsky’s life. In this regard, the film presents various environments – the characteristic space of his existence, including places relating to his great-great-grandfather’s work. It reveals the unassuming Lyoha-Alexei’s rich intellectual life. The tracks along which his no. 28 tram rumbles serve as the film’s distinctive refrain.

About the director

Alexander Kisselyev (b. 1944, Leningrad) graduated from the Academy of Culture in his home town, and then completed a coures in direction at Moscow´s VGIK Film School. He is a member of the Union of Filmmakers. Since 1979 he has cooperated with the St. Petersburg Documentary Film Studios and has made over thirty docs to date, including: Anathema (1992), Change (1993), Secret Ecology (1997), Perestroika, Again and Again (2001).