Generation P

Colour, 35 mm
Russia, USA, 2011, 112 min
IP – International premiere
Section: East of the West - Films in Competition

Synopsis

After the break-up of the USSR Moscow opens its doors to foreign investors: finding a career is primarily a question of making clever use of an opportunity. Babylen Tatarsky starts out as a tobacconist, but an encounter with a former classmate leads him to the world of advertising. Pepsi Cola, Sprite, Parliament cigarettes – such products need to reach the consumer fast. Babylen turns out to be good at his job, and he gradually finds his way into the kind of PR which serves to promote not only goods, but people in social roles as well. In addition to the gloss of success, however, he is also driven by his passion for Near Eastern mythology, an experience heightened through use of hallucinogenic substances. This open-handed adaptation of Victor Pelevin’s cult postmodern novel caused a major stir after its screening in Russian cinemas. One reviewer declared: "This film successfully blows your mind.”

About the director

Victor Ginzburg (b. 1959, Moscow) emigrated to the USA with his parents when he was 15. He studied filmmaking at the School of Visual Arts in New York, and subsequently made several successful music videos featuring various artists (Belinda Carlisle, Jody Watley, Lou Reed). He debuted in film with the documentary The Restless Garden (Nyeskuchny sad, 1994) which, he states, reflects the spirit of his native Russia. The film was provocative for its eroticism and for its association of the trash music scene with the conceptual art coming out of Moscow’s avant-garde movement of the era. In later years he worked on domestic and foreign TV programmes, was involved in the film technology business, and wrote screenplays.