East of the West - Competition 2006 / Garpastum / Russia 2005
A story of two brothers, pioneers of Russian football who, during the First World War, are concerned only with establishing themselves in their native St. Petersburg. Have they thus remained indifferent to all the private and historical tragedies which the era has passed to them?
1914. Soon after the shot is fired in Sarajevo, Russia accepts a crucial call. Brothers Andrei and Nikolai, however, instead of the imminent war, are more interested in the fashionable game of football which the local English community has introduced into St Petersburg. With adolescents from the suburbs, the young medical students start to make a name for themselves and, using indiscriminate means, endeavour to acquire their own stadium. With the war waging elsewhere on some far flung field, these youngsters fanatically devote their time to sporting tournaments and romantic adventures. St Petersburg is renamed Petrograd, the city’s artists are seized by dark premonitions, and brutal murders are being committed in the city. The brothers’ stepfather dies and Nikolai is mobilised. Everything is caving in before their eyes, the revolution is drawing closer… Evidently, it’s human nature to fail to notice the symptoms of catastrophe, to ignore the tempestuous forces of history, and to live one’s unique life amidst all the conflicts which follow. Primarily with visual means, the director evokes the “spirit of the time”, its atmosphere and the nature of human attitudes and gestures – all in a fascinating rhythmical sequence of images.
118 min / Color, 35 mm
Director Alexey German Jr.
/ Screenplay Oleg Antonov, Alexandr Vajnštejn / Alexander Vaynshteyn, Alexei German, Jr.
/ Dir. of Photography Oleg Lukičev / Oleg Lukichov
/ Music Igor Vdovin
/ Editor Ivan Lebeděv / Ivan Lebedev
/ Producer Alexandr Vajnštejn / Alexander Vaynshteyn
/ Production V.K. – Kampaniya, The Federal Agency for Culture and Cinematography
/ Cast Jevgenij Pronin / Yevgeny Pronin, Danila Kozlovskij / Danila Kozlovsky, Dmitrij Vladimirov / Dmitry Vladimirov, Aleksandr Bykovskij / Alexander Bykovsky, Čulpan Chamatova / Chulpan Khamatova, Iamze Suchitašvili / Iamze Sukhitashvili, Goša Kucenko / Gosha Kutsenko
/ Contact Intercinema XXI Century
www: www.garpastum.ru
Alexei German jr. (b. 1976, Moscow), the son of director Alexei German and screenwriter Svyetlana Karmalita, studied theatre science at the Drama Academy in St Petersburg, and film direction at VGIK (2001). As a student he became known for his formally sophisticated short films: Banner (Znamya, 1998), Large Autumn Field (Bolshoye osennyeye pole, 1999), Little Fools (Durachki, 2001). His feature debut The Last Train (Posledniy poyezd, 2003), for its unconventional insight in the story of a German physician during the war, won him the annual Nika prize awarded by the Russian Film Academy in the category Discovery of the Year, and led to participation at numerous domestic and international festivals (Karlovy Vary 2004). His second feature film Garpastum (2005) has enjoyed equal success at home and abroad, and won critical acclaim at last year’s Venice IFF.
Intercinema XXI Century
Druzhinnikovskaya Str. 15, 123 242, Moscow
Russia
Phone: +7 499 255 9052, +7 499 255 9082
Fax: +7 499 255 9053
E-mail: [email protected]
Raissa Fomina
Distributor
Alexey German Jr.
Film Director
First-hand brews throughout the year.
Be among the first to learn about upcoming events and other news. We only send the newsletter when we have something to say.
