Archive of films Chechen Gambit / Čečenskij gambit
Russia
2001, 40 min
Section:
Intolerance
Year: 2001
Synopsis
Our guides to the military horrors of Chechnya are an active participant in the war and one of its passive victims. Both are disgusted by the drawn-out conflict and try to investigate the truth of the origin of this tragedy. They recall the injustice of forced evacuation and present the situation of 1991 which was, according to them, mismanaged by President Dudayev. They characterise the gradual escalation, and the role drugs, money, corruption and terrorism played in its culmination. The narration accompanies a montage of journalistic shots of the war landscape: the bombardment, artillery fire, helicopter fly-bys, devastated towns and villages, routine weapons searches and pitiful markets lining streets rumbling with tanks. The interminable war has marked children’s behaviour, it is reflected in bizarre fashions, it has imprinted sadness and defiance in the eyes of the people, filled mosques and cemeteries, and daily increased the numbers of wounded and disabled. The scenes of ordinary everyday life force condemnation of not only the Russian military but of local soldiers as well.
About the director
Sergei Bosenko (b. 1967, Odessa) served in the Soviet Army from 1987 to 1989. In 1991 he graduated from the Novosibirsk Agricultural Academy as a zoologist. In 1998 he completed a course in non-feature films and teleprograms at the VGIK (A. S. Kochetkov’s class). Filmography: The Last Glance (1993), Alternative Soldier (1994), Weisenborn in Moscow (1995), Semester Work (1996), Well, Good Luck, Kostya, Good Luck (1998), Chechen Gambit (2001).
About the film
Black & white, 16 mm
Section: | Intolerance |
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Director: | Sergei Bosenko |
Screenplay: | Irina Semašková / Irina Semashko, Světlana Muzyčenková /Svetlana Muzychenko |
Dir. of Photography: | K. Durnov, A. Kapranov, E. Železnov / E. Zheleznov |
Editor: | Olga Levkinová / Olga Levkina, Taťjana Širjajevová /Tatyana Shiryaeva |
Producer: | Natalia Želtuchinová / Natalya Zheltuchina |
Production: | Risk Film Studio |