A Female Take on Russia 2009 / Vse umrut, a ja ostanus / Russia 2008
Three 14-year-old girls, Katya, Zhanna and Vika, find out that a school disco is to be held the following weekend. During the preparations for Saturday’s big event, their hitherto rock-solid friendship is put to the test. Valeria Gai Germanika’s feature film debut, screened at the Cannes IFF during Critics’ Week in 2008, tells a raw and unadorned story of the trials of growing up in a Moscow suburb.
Three 14-year-old girls, Katya, Zhanna and Vika, find out that a school disco is to be held the following weekend. During the preparations for Saturday’s big event, which include thinking up ways to get hold of some elusive alcohol, their hitherto rock-solid friendship is put to the test. Problems between them come to a head, revealing hidden insecurities and complicated relationships with their parents. The girls’ naïve preconceptions are confronted with a reality far removed from their dreams. Debuting director Valeria Gai Germanika allows her experience as a documentary filmmaker to aid her in her approach, which she illustrates in the following words: "I make films based on what I know, on what I’ve seen, on my own experiences. I shoot where I live, because I can’t do it any other way.” This story about the trials of adolescence set in a Moscow suburb is told with raw conviction and without embellishment, and rendered all the more compelling for the truly convincing performances of all three young actresses.
85 min / Color, 35 mm
Director Valeria Gai Germanika
/ Screenplay Alexander Rodionov, Jurij Klavdijev / Yuri Klavdiev
/ Dir. of Photography Ališer Chamidchodžajev / Alisher Khamidkhodzhaev
/ Editor Julia Batalova / Yulia Batalova, Ivan Lebeděv / Ivan Lebedev
/ Producer Igor Tolstunov
/ Production Igor Tolstunov’s Production Company
/ Cast Polina Filoněnko / Polina Philonenko, Agnija Kuzněcova / Agnia Kuznetsova, Olga Šuvalova / Olga Shuvalova
/ Contact Rezo
www: www.rezofilms.com
Valeria Gai Germanika (b. 1984, Moscow) studied at the Internews Film and Television School, graduating in 2005. She has made several documentaries: Sisters (Sestri, 2005), Girls (Dyevochki, 2005), Boys (Malchiki, 2006) and Infanta’s Birthday (Dyen rozhdeniya infanty, 2007). Her feature film debut Everybody Dies But Me was screened during Critics’ Week at last year’s Cannes Film Festival, where it won two awards.
Rezo
29, Rue du Faubourg Poissonniere, 75009, Paris
France
Phone: +33 615453221
E-mail: [email protected]
Eve Albertini
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