< 8th ARCTIC OPEN OPENING FILM: CROSS BY SERGEY DEBIZHEV>
The film selected to open Arkhangelsk’s 8 th ARCTIC OPEN International Film Festival is Cross, a documentary by Sergey Debizhev. This year’s non-competition program features films by jury members from Russia and the United States, latest releases of the Sverdlovsk Film Studio, the retrospective of Gunilla Bresky’s films (Sweden) and the VR series about Tolstoy and Turgenev.
Sergey Debizhev’s Cross explores the meaning of the cross as a cornerstone symbol of humanity, what its erection on Earth means to people, and how it has changed the worldview of nations and generations.
Last year, as a participant of the 7th ARCTIC OPEN IFF, Sergey Debizhev presented his Holy Archipelago to the audiences in Arkhangelsk and Severodvinsk.
The retrospective of Gunilla Bresky’s films includes three documentaries. I Stop Time follows the renowned wartime cameraman Vladislav Mikosha. A Grey Blanket With Embroidered Flowers tells a story of a woman in Northern Norway, who, together with her husband, joined the resistance struggle against fascism; her husband was executed and she herself sent to a concentration camp in Germany where she began to embroider a blanket with the flags of the countries of her fellow sufferers.
The third film included in the retrospective, We Are Still Here, is Gunilla Bresky’s latest release. It shows a group of Sámi artists who settled in the northern village of Máze in the late 1970s and started to exhibit their paintings to celebrate their cultural identity.
Gunilla made her debut documentary, Ekaterina The Junior, in Arkhangelsk in 1996. Now, her “Russian series” includes eight documentaries and one feature film.
Also, this year’s non-competition program features a presentation of Sverdlovsk Film Studio and two of its recent releases – Maria Melenevskaya’s Razezd, which follows a cultured sales assistant in a second-hand bookstore, and Anrdey Lukyanov’s Bernaki, a comedy film about a man who got his forehead tattooed with the logo of this company.
Documentary Jury member Regis Trembley (USA) will present his documentary film The Ghosts of Jeju about the struggle of the people of Jeju (an island of South Korea) against construction of a military base. Short Film Jury chairman Vladimir Kott will present his Man and Woman, a series of stories that follow couples meeting, breaking up and starting families. The film stars Pavel Derevyanko, Irina Pegova, Stepan Devonin, Anna Kotova, Kirill Kyaro, among other stars, and will be released to the big screen in the spring of 2025 after screening by festivals.
Traditionally, this year’s program features VR sessions and this time it’s the three-episode web series Tolstoy and Turgenev”, which follows the controversial relationship between the writers.
The serial uses 360 panoramas, taking viewers on a fascinating journey into the everyday life and interiors of the 19 th century, portraying Leo Tolstoy and Ivan Turgenev working, resting, talking, leading their lives.
