Kino Rossija – Captivating New Shorts From Russia
Russian animation art has retained its unique "hand-crafted" look and it can be said that Russian animation is experiencing a new surge. The animatios in Kino Rossija 1 screening are of high artistic quality, and display solid professionalism and youthful creativity. To name just one, Mihail Zheleznikov's Skazki na bolote (2002) combines news footage and animation relating the short history of St. Petersburg and, simultaneously, the Soviet Union with the innocent voice of a child.
Russian short documentaries have an honourable history, and filmmakers in St. Petersburg continue the tradition, as Kino Rossija 2 portrays well. Zheleznikov's Kollektsia No:1 ( Collection No. 1, 2006) is a childhood portrayal which is exceptionally autobiografical for a Russian film and casts an exhilarating look at life in the Soviet Union. Transformator ( The Transformer, 2003), awarded at Tampere 2004, has even caused offence with its topic and uninhibited language. It has also opened new avenues for approaching Russia's reality. Sarafan (2006) is stunningly beautiful work, which brings Russian wedding ceremony to life. The work is a small gem in both cinematography and mastery of form.
Kino Rossija 3 programme exhibits short fiction films, which are in short supply in Russia as the filmmakers usually prefer feature films. The existing short production features yet fine works, such as the farce Svatovstvo ( Match-making, 2006), in which a wife who thinks she's dying tries to get her drunkard husband married to someone else so the no-good git can have a comfy life. Another comedy, Stolitshnyi skoryi ( Metropolitan Express, 2003,) is an exemplary student film about vocational school students who dream of the big world. The films are to be seen at .