November 18, 2021 – December 12, 2021
The 15th Sputnik Russian Film Festival starts on November 18!
The year 2021 has been marked by cosmic anniversaries – 60 years ago, on April 12, 1961, The Vostok 1 space capsule was launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan with Yuri Gagarin aboard, making him the first human to cross into outer space. The space flight took exactly 108 minutes. This year The Festival organizers are celebrating a special anniversary, which is why a unique repertoire and interesting accompanying events have been prepared.
This year’s Feature Film Competition of Sputnik FF will include as many as 16 films.
The winner of the festival’s Grand Prix will be chosen by the Jury consisting of: the Chairman Jerzy Kapuscinski – film and television producer; Lukasz M. Maciejewski – film and TV scriptwriter; Blazej Hrapkowicz – film critic.
Among other competition films we will see a work by Siemion Sierzin entitled ‘The Man from Podolsk’, which is a film adaptation of the drama by Dmitry Danilov. The titular man from Podolsk is Nikolai Frolov – a man who doesn’t seem to be very successful in life. Stopped by the patrol service, he goes to the police station, the employees of which do not resemble the sedate law enforcement personnel in any way. The film was awarded for the soundtrack at the last year’s Kinotavr Open Sochi Russian Film Festival. Moreover, the Jury of Stalker International Human Rights Film Festival in Moscow recognized it as the best feature film. The competition section will also be composed by the films that have made an appearance at International Festivals, including the latest work by Kirill Serebrennikov, ‘Petrov’s Flu’, awarded with the ‘Vulcain Prize’ in Cannes and ‘The Blockade Diary’ by Andrei Zaitsev, the laureate of the Moscow International Film Festival in 2020. Regular visitors cannot miss a dramedy ‘Deeper!’, the latest film by Mikhail Segal, whose ambiguous film title is not really that ambiguous. Erotic associations are very appropriate here, as in almost all other works of the artist to date.
10 films will compete for the main prize in the Documentary Film Competition at the 15th Sputnik Film Festival. This year’s winners will be selected by the Jury: the Chairman Robert Glinski – film and theater director, screenwriter; Marcin Koszalka – director and cinematographer; Ryszard Jazwinski – film journalist.
The documentary section will amaze the viewers with its thematic diversity. Nature films, such as ‘Sockeye Salmon, Red Fish’ directed by Vladislav Grishin and Dmitry Shpilenok, the doc about a species of salmon living in the waters in the south of Kamchatka, salmon’s color becomes red during the mating season. The documentary competition will also feature films about outstanding people living in Russia. Can you remember the documentary ‘Northern Wind Can Be Warm’ by Alexei Golovkov, which was showered with awards? The director returned to his protagonist, Alexander Kolesov, who lived in the heart of the Yakutian taiga in ‘When the Snow Melts Down’. After completing ten years of primary school and two years of military service, Sasha decided to live like his ancestors and breed reindeer. One may wonder how long he will be able to endure loneliness in a frost-bound Arctic forest. A quarter-century has passed since then… History enthusiasts are invited to participate in the screening of Julia Bobkova’s documentary ‘Stanislavski. Lust for life’.
In addition to the competition films, you may find interesting titles collected in different thematic sections. ‘Into space’ – films set in outer space, ‘Debuts. A New Gaze’- a review of works by outstanding young directors, ‘Once Upon a Time in Russia!’ – Tarantino in Russian style section has a look at Russian genre cinema. On the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s birth, the Organizers prepared memorable on-screen adaptations of his works. Enthusiasts of horror films will appreciate ‘The Night of horrors with Svyatoslav Podgaevskiy’.
The 15th Sputnik Festival will take us on a cinematic flight along an orbit of iconic Russian works and the latest films with the participation of real stars. We kindly invite you to join us on a 10-day journey with Russian cinema in Warsaw, at ‘Luna’ and ‘Iluzjon’ cinemas, on November 18-28. The online part of the Festival with its limited selection of films will be held on December 1-9, 2021.