Archive of films Portrait / Portret

Russia
2002, 27 min

Section: Documentary Films - Competition
Year: 2003

In the spirit of old photographs, static shots of old men and women alternate against the landscape and a dilapidated wooden settlement – from winter to winter. The inhabitants are mostly old people with touching and humbly resigned faces, whose mode of existence is revealed only by surrounding, and the whispers and voices.

Synopsis

The look is reminiscent of old photographs. Stiff shots of men and women alternate against the landscape and a dilapidated wooden settlement – from winter to winter. The inhabitants are mostly old people with touching and humbly resigned faces, whose mode of existence is revealed only by surrounding objects and the environment. The wind whispers, leaves rustle, crows caw, dogs bark, and the chopping of axes rings out. Only the flowing river and the changing seasons of the year as reflected by nature bring motion and the presence of life into this elegiac image of reconciled existence. Portrait was awarded the Main Prize at this year’s International Short Film Festival Oberhausen.

About the director

Sergey Loznitsa (b. 1964) graduated in applied mathematics from Kiev Polytechnic (1987) and from Moscow’s VGIK film school (1996). Documentary films: Today We Are Going to Build a House (Segodnya my postroiim dom, 1996), Diktator iz gipsa (1998), Life. Autumn (Zhizn, osen, 1998), The Halt (Polustanovka, 2000), The Settlement (Poseleniye, 2001) and Portrait (2002).

Contacts

St. Petersburg Documentary Film Studio
Krukov kanal 12, 190 068, St. Petersburg
Russia
Tel: +7 812 714 5312, +7 812 114 4592
Fax: +7 812 714 3304
E-mail: [email protected]

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About the film

Black & white, 35 mm

Section:	Documentary Films - Competition

Director:	Sergei Loznitsa
Screenplay:	Sergej Loznica / Sergey Loznitsa
Dir. of Photography:	Pavel Kostomarov
Editor:	Sergej Loznica / Sergey Loznitsa
Producer:	Vjačeslav Tělnov / Viacheslav Telnov
Production:	St. Petersburg Documentary Film Studio
Contact:	St. Petersburg Documentary Film Studio

Guests

Anastasia Printseva

Sergei Loznitsa

Film Director

Vyacheslav Telnov

Producer