RIGA IFF OFFICIAL COMPETITION
In the newly founded Soviet Union, where people still honestly believe in a bright future, Polina, a commander of the Red Army, and her friends, avant-garde artists (a composer, a director, a sculptor, an architect, and a theatre director), are sent to the north of Russia to convince, using cultural methods, the local tribes of the advantages of the new government. Based on actual events, the film was shot in the style of magic realism, so close to the director Alexey Fedorchenko’s heart. Vivid and grotesque vignettes capture the harsh battle in which everyone’s a loser, the demise of idealism, and the destruction of traditions; however, the film finds room for original humour too. Fedorchenko received an award at the Venice Film Festival for his mockumentary “First on the Moon” (2005) and is currently working on a screenplay based on brothers Strugatski’s sci-fi novel “Space Mowgli”.
