Another View 2014 / Kombinat Nadezhda / Russia 2014
The northern Siberian industrial city of Norilsk is one of the most polluted places on Earth, and life here doesn’t have much to offer young people. Svyeta, whose 18th birthday is coming up, is well aware of this. She and her mates hang out after work drinking vodka but, unlike them, Svyeta has set herself clear goals and is determined to achieve them at any cost. Young talented director Natalia Meschaninova debuts with a compelling and realistic coming-of-age drama about the quest for love and the desire for a better life.
The north Siberian industrial city of Norilsk is one of the most polluted places on Earth. This is where young Russian director Natalia Meshchaninova set her ironically titled film, a work which reflects her honed skills as a documentarist. Life in this gritty town inside the Arctic Circle doesn’t have much to offer young people. The film’s heroine, Svyeta, is well aware of this. Her eighteenth birthday is coming up and the thought of spending the rest of her days in the city where she was born is unappealing to say the least. She and her mates hang out after work drinking vodka but, unlike them, Svyeta has a clear aim in life and she is determined to achieve it at any cost. The talented debuting director has turned out a compelling, realistic coming-of-age drama about the quest for love and the desire for a better life. Using a hand-held camera, the impressive script attains a documentarist’s authenticity and is well supported by meticulous performances from the young cast.
102 min / Color, DCP
Director Natalia Meschaninova
/ Screenplay Natalia Meschaninova, Lubov Mulmenko, Ivan Ugarov
/ Dir. of Photography Eugeny Tsvetkov, Ivan Mamonov
/ Editor Daria Danilova, Dmitry Kubasov
/ Producer Elena Stepanischeva, Zaur Bolotaev, Alexander Plotnikov
/ Production First Creative Union, Look Film
/ Cast Daria Savelieva, Polina Shanina, Maxim Stoyanov, Stepan Devonin, Daniil Steklov
/ Contact First Creative Union
Natalia Meschaninova (b. 1982, Krasnodar, USSR) studied film and television direction at Kuban State University before enrolling at the Internews documentary film school. She shot the documentary Gerbary (2007), the short doc Hunting beyond the Gates (Okhota za vorota, 2008) and the documentary Dick Dick (Khui Khui), a film about the legendary rock band Leningrad that focuses on the fans rather than the group itself. She took part as co-director in the television series "School” (2010). The Hope Factory is her feature film debut, premiered this year at the Rotterdam IFF.
First Creative Union
, , Moscow
Russia
Phone: +7 916 594 3786
E-mail: [email protected]
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