Competition

10.04.2019, 15:30

Volgograd culture and arts Institute

Franka. Dir. Mitry Semenov-Aleynikov. Belarus, 2018. Fiction film, 29 min 21 sec.

Franka. Belarus, the year of 1943. A shell-shocked German soldier comes to farmstead where women shelter from the war. The women are scared of him, and nearly finish him off. But they take pity on the soldier at the last minute and let him stay. Would they be able to get on with the foe?

Slaughter. Dir. Saman Hosseinpuor, Ako Zandkarimi. Islamic Republic of Iran, 2019. Fiction film, 13 min 3 sec.

Ghasem is forced to sell their cow to spend a hard winter in their village, but his son fled out the cow.

Three days of Klava Gracheva. Dir. Ivan Grigolunas. Russia, 2018 Fiction film, 34 min.

It’s 1951. Klava Grachyova comes to take her husband home from a penal colony where he spent the last 9 years. He is not eager to come back home. Klava has only 3 days to sort everything out and take her husband back.

My Name is Makhaz. Dir. Inar Narmania. Russia, Abkhazia, 2018. Fiction film, 14 min 24 sec.

The plot unwinds in the Soviet 70s in Sukhumi. A young guy Makhaz comes over to the city, and thanks to his brilliant drawing skills easily enters the Sukhumi School of Art. However, as the character himself claims, he couldn’t make it to graduation because of he felt in love. The movie tells a story of the hardship he goes through after meeting his flame.

10.04.2019, 18:30

“Russia – my history” Museum

Planetary Alignment. Dir. Vera Smolina. Russia, 2018. Fiction short film, 27 min 11 sec.

After an accident at the museum, our once simple young heroine Anna breaks not only an exhibit but her relationship with her mother. She must endure a series of never-ending mishaps with no money, no idea how to get back to the hotel and very unhelpful companions,while making up with one’s mother has never been this hard.

Menuett. Dir. Felix Karolus. Germany, 2018. Fiction film, 10 min 45 sec.

For Charlotte (Senta Berger) it is like any other Sunday, until the doorbell rings and a stranger (Thomas Thieme) surprises her with an extraodinary request.

Asya. Dir. Daniella Rybakyan. Russia, 2018. Fiction film, 29 min 30 sec.

Asya is a successful juvenile justice police officer. Her forever-young mother named Nadya bursts into the girl’s life to restore their relationship. Warm memories are being replaced by old grudges. Nadia is still the same. All Asya’s left to do is to accept the mother as she is…

The Last Embrace. Dir. Saman Hosseinpuor. Islamic Republic of Iran, 2018. Fiction film, 4 min.

A little girl wants to show a picture she has drawn to her family, but everybody is busy with their cell phones. She goes to her grandpa who has just past away a few minutes ago with nobody havng noticed it.

Milestone. Dir. Aviv Kaufman. Israel, 2018. Fiction film, 13 min.

( Second screening).

11.04.2019, 18:30

“Russia – my history” Museum

Trip to Paris. Dir. Maria Polyakova. Russia, 2018. Fiction film, 16 min.

“Trip to Paris” is a story of complex relations between young prisoners of Kolpino Penal colony and the administration and the guard, based on a true story, shot with the strong documental influence. This is a story about a teenage boy, who’s about to go for parole and leave the colony. He wants to get back to his normal life and family. But no one is waiting for him and no one is coming for him. Administration, inmates and workers know about it. But Max believes that his mother will wait for him at the gates of the prison. This story is about coming of age, accepting unpleasant truth, about help, understanding and faith.

Lobster Dinner. Dir. Gregorio Franchetti. Italy, 2017. Fiction film, 14 min.

Left home alone one evening, a 12-year-old boy steals some live lobsters from his parents’ fridge and takes them as a gift to the single working class mother of his school friend, only to claim in her house a place that goes well beyond that of a dinner seat.

628. Dir. Anna Kuznetsova. Russia, 2018. Fiction film, 25 min.

18-year old Sacha is in love with her roommate and she fiearsly hates her roommate’s boyfriend, who lives in their room illegally. Sacha’s greatest dream is to get rid of Yegor, no matter how. She doesn’t know yet that sometimes a dream come true is the worst thing that can happen.

Picture. Dir. Asatur Avagian. Russia, 2018. Fiction short film, 14 min.

Misha is a young man who comes from a suburban town and relocates into a big city to pursue a degree at the university. But his mother is sick and in need of an expensive surgery. It is up to her only son to find the money. Facing rejections wherever he turns to he is forced to take a deal offered by some very shady people. They tell him to rob a bookmaker’s office, whose owners are high up up with the mob.

Dream/Life. Dir. David Aufdembrinke. Germany, 2018. Fiction film, 22 min 22 sec.

Ridden by thoughts of death and failing his life, a young man tries out what happens if he assumes that everything was possible … and goes far beyond anything he ever imagined.

11.04.2019, 20:00

“Russia – my history” Museum

Snow White. Dir. Thadeusz Tischbein. Germany, 2017. Documental, experimental short film, 19 min 40 sec.

What role can culture play, when dead bodies are not burried after death, but being used for other purposes? „Snow White“ examines this question, using stalinist Mausoleums, preparated animals in Natural History Museums and relics in churches. What form of story telling is being used to hide actions and translate them?

Verarbeitet (Processed). Dir. Filmgroup Chaos. Germany, 2016. Experimental film, 4 min 34 sec.

Workers. Part of the machinery. Working class heroes. Victims of exploitition, deprived of their rights.

Humans as animals. Dir. Alexei Pryakhin. Russia, 2018. Fiction short film, 14 min.
An oddish, unfortunate guy leads a passive life, gets more and more apathetic to reality. Meanwhile, his cat, staying in the same small flat, finds lots of amazing and meaningful things around him.
One day the cat and the guy exchange their social roles without leaving initial physical bodies.
The cat stand up on his hind legs, puts on a business suite and turns to a creative and productive work. At the same time, the guy tries the carefree lifestyle of a fluffy pet.
What transformation takes place in their self-conscience?

In Dog Years I’m Dead. Dir. Kenji Ouellet. Germany, 2018. Experimental film, 13 min 11 sec.

Young ballet dancers – not necessarily the typical poster children of ballet school – comment on their training with quotes from known personalities ranging from Kim Kardashian or Therese of Avila to Mikhail Baryschnikov. Taking the body politics and the fate of children in ballet as a starting point, the film raises issues going beyond the dance world.

Keine Geister, die er rief / No Ghosts He Called. Dir. Evy Schubert. Germany – Russia, 2019. Experimental film, 39 min.

Sibirian Eastern. In „No Ghosts He Called,“ someone goes to Siberia for a necromancy. However, the incantation is not quite according to plan, evidently he has called the wrong spirit and so a lot of strange events unfold until even the director appears in the film itself. The question of whether the actor, the character or the whole movie itself has been enchanted thereby triggers further, curious associations.

13.04.2019, 15:00

“Russia – my history” Museum

Parvaz mahiha / Flying fishes. Dir. Mohammad Towrivarian. Iran, 2018. Fiction film, 14 min. 38 sec.

A new teacher in the village realizes that one of his student who is the only girl in the class don’t talk and a cigarette burn is visible on her hand.

Zweite Haut / Secons Skin. Dir. Ismet Ergün, Kerem Ergün. Germany, 2019. Fiction film, 10 min.

What would you do, if you are approached in a racist or sexist manner? A woman finds a way to protect herself with neither words nor fists.

Mit im Bund / Morale. Dir. Lukas Nathrath. Germany, 2018. Fiction film, 13 min 27 sec

Mara takes part in a highly demanding training course of the German armed forces. When her fellow soldier Weber humiliates her in front of her troop, Mara understands that she has to defend herself — even if that puts her integrity to the test.

Nothing Personal. Dir. Evgeny Milykh. Russia, 2018.

Evgeniy is a specialist in lockpicking and safe-cracking. For the last ten years as a hobby, he tries to pick one stubborn lock that hasn’t surrendered to him yet.
Andrew is an employee of a bank, who’s job is to seize real estate for debts. In his spare time he reflects “whether or not he lives according to the God’s law” …
Every once in a whiel the men are brought together through the job, where everyone diligently performs one’s duties…

Greenkeeper. Dir. Lisa Pozo Nunez. Germany, 2019. Fiction film, 3 min.

Guenther is a greenkeeper with body and soul. Unfortunately his soccer club stays far behind his ambitions. Since they are about to relegate again, it is on him to save the honor of his team.

Starvation. Dir. Zahra Rostampour. Islamic Republic of Iran, 2018. Animation film, 7 min 12 sec.

A hungry wolf gets stuck in stereotypes about being the big bad wolf of the story. She has to flee when everybody accuses her of violence and murder, and faces the danger of getting killed.

13.04.2019, 19:30

“Russia – my history” Museum

Love Me, Fear Me. Dir. Veronica Solomon. Germany, 2018. Animation short, 6 min.

“What would you be willing to do for them to love you?” Love Me, Fear Me is a dance metaphor about the roles we play and the shapes we take, about the stages we chose, the audience we try to impress and the price of acceptance.

The Rules. Dir. Evgeniy Zverev. Russia, 2018. Fiction short film, 20 min.

Сertain rules are set in Sascha’s family. So he invented his own ones which at first glance may seem absurd. But these rules must be followed or something dreadful can happen. Once, Sascha’s mother cancel the rules and Sascha’s father dies. But who is to blame for this?

About our astronauts. Galina Golubeva. Russia, 2018. Animation 7 min 20 sec.(

( Second screening).

Planet 42. Dir. Oleg Khristolyubsky. Russia, 2018. Fiction film, 20 min.

Once upon a time there lived Ivan Ivanovich, but oops, tough luck… Did he really exist? Yes, he did. Was he or was he not – that is a question. He could find himself nowhere. He did not find himself in love, profession, anywhere in general. By chance, Ivan Ivanovich heard on TV that there was an opportunity to go and try to find oneself somewhere on another planet… Ivan Ivanovich thought a bit, and took on.
Directors statement:

This touching story narrates about the purposelessness of our existence. We are roaming round, making the same mistakes over and over again, not realizing that we are dragging an inordinate load of ourselves everywhere. I want the viewers of the movie to experience the perception of the deadlock the main character gets in, to fall to the abyss of inactivity and apathy together with him, to ask themselves: What Am I doing with my life? Where Am I going to? What Should I do with myself to find what Ivan Ivanovich is looking for on every next planet. It is tremendously important for me.

The Tree. Dir. Hava Mukhiyeva. Russia, 2018. Fiction film, 21 min 42 sec.

North Causacus, 1994. Hava and Adam live next door and are friends like their parents. The children write letters to each other and exchange them through hiedeout a tree hollow. They love the tree and confide their secrets to it. They are dreamers living in their fantasies. Aslan, Adam’s farther, runs business in town and comes back to the village one day. Sultan, Hava’s farther, like many other of their neighbours, is happy for his success and celebrates his coming home. Unfortunately not all of the villagers share these feelings…

Lola the Living Potato. Dir. Leonid Shmelkov. Russai, 2018. 17 min 18 sec.

The little Lola’s family is forced to leave their’s old house for good, although there is a lot of memories in it. Sometimes you part with things that you love so much. And Lola will make it easily because she’s grown older.

14.04, 15:30 Volgograd Planetarium

The Update. Dir. Mor Hanay. Israel, 2018. Fiction film, 23 min 34 sec.

Adam has the perfect girlfriend, Alex, which was custom-made for him. Alex is separated from him for 24 hours during the annual ‘Update Day’ and he finds himself spending the time with Yuli, a human being like him, who makes him question everything he thought was perfect.

Mitya’s Love. Dir. Svetlana Filippova. Russa, 2018. Animation film, 14 min.

By Boris Shergin’s short story “Mitya’s love”. This is a story of Mitya looking for love. The film utilizes images by Russian avant-gardist Mikhail Larionov and Natalya Goncharova, as well as as the naïve art masters Pavel Leonov and Lyobov Maykova.

Engineer Fedorovich. Dir. Elena Murganova. Russia, 2018. Documentary, 20 min.

My grandmother is 96 years old. She dreamed of becoming a ballerina, and became an engineer. I made this film because I wanted to understand who she really is, but instead I understood myself a little better.

My Branch so Thin. Dir. Dinara Droukarova. Russia-France, 2018. Fiction film, 14 min 11 sec.

A young woman nurses her mother’s lifeless body. Beside her there’s an elderly woman, a babushka, as Russians would say. The two of them wash the body, the young woman feeling her way, the elderly woman with a sure hand. They accompany the defunct woman, rock and console her with a final farewell.

Piano Terra. Dir. Natalino Zangaro. Italy, 2018. Fiction film, 15 min.

Gloria, a young pregnant lady from a Roman suburb, helped by her friend, organizes to escape from prison. While in hospital, preparing to labour, she is constantly supervised as she must go to the jail soon after giving birth. In those circumstances, she meets a very different woman from her.