Dimitri Venkov

Directing

Dimitri Venkov

Born 1980-01-02 · Novosibirsk, USSR (Russia)

Dimitri gained initial recognition with his debut film, "Mad Mimes," in 2012. His subsequent work, "Krisis," was selected for the Oberhausen Film Festival and featured in Documenta 14. In 2018, Dimitri's film, "The Hymns of Muscovy," received accolades at international film festivals, was broadcast on TV and streaming platforms, and found its place in prominent institutional and private art collections. Dimitri has participated in biennials in Moscow, Bergen, Goteborg, Wroclaw, among others. His works have been showcased at esteemed galleries such as Whitechapel and Hayward, and he has held personal exhibitions at MHKA, Nassauischer Kunstverein, CCA Winzavod, and Manezh. Dimitri's contributions have garnered attention from both Russian writers, including Anna Tolstova, Alexandra Novozhenova, Boris Klushnikov, Andrey Shental, Gleb Napreenko, Alexander Evangely, and international figures such as Kate Sutton, Simon Mraz, Yin Xiuzhen, Nagihan Haliloğlu, and Davide Deriu.

Acting credits

Behind the camera

Krisis poster
10.0

Dimitri Venkov’s Krisis is based on a Facebook discussion on December 8, 2013, the day on which pro-European demonstrators in Kiev started to demolish statues of Vladimir Lenin. The film reenacts debates between Russian and Ukrainian artists during the protests, revealing deep aesthetic, historical, and political divisions.

Krisis

2016

The Hymns of Muscovy poster
6.7

The film is a trip to the planet Muscovy - an upside-down twin city of Moscow in space. As the title of the work suggests, the journey also takes us back in time. Gliding over the surface of the planet, we look down and see historic architectural styles fly by - the exuberant Socialist Classicism, aka Stalinist Empire, the austere and brutish Soviet Modernism, and the hodgepodge of contemporary knock-offs and revivals of the styles of the past. An essential companion to this journey through time and space are Hymnic Variations on the Soviet anthem.

The Hymns of Muscovy

2018

The Hymns of Muscovy poster
6.7

The film is a trip to the planet Muscovy - an upside-down twin city of Moscow in space. As the title of the work suggests, the journey also takes us back in time. Gliding over the surface of the planet, we look down and see historic architectural styles fly by - the exuberant Socialist Classicism, aka Stalinist Empire, the austere and brutish Soviet Modernism, and the hodgepodge of contemporary knock-offs and revivals of the styles of the past. An essential companion to this journey through time and space are Hymnic Variations on the Soviet anthem.

The Hymns of Muscovy

2018

Mad Mimes poster
10.0

An anthropological study of a cargo cult in a fictitious self-marginalized commune, which existed next to the Moscow Ring Road - a highway that marks the boundaries of the Russian capital - and survived mainly on roadside trash. Although the road provided for their basic needs, the existence of the commune was extremely precarious and highly dependent on the roadway's fluctuations. This dependency led them to develop a cargo cult of the road.

Mad Mimes

2012

Mad Mimes poster
10.0

An anthropological study of a cargo cult in a fictitious self-marginalized commune, which existed next to the Moscow Ring Road - a highway that marks the boundaries of the Russian capital - and survived mainly on roadside trash. Although the road provided for their basic needs, the existence of the commune was extremely precarious and highly dependent on the roadway's fluctuations. This dependency led them to develop a cargo cult of the road.

Mad Mimes

2012

America poster
10.0

Would it be correct to suggest that none of it happened?

America

2013

Like the Sun poster
10.0

An allegorical three-part film about three types of utopia

Like the Sun

2013

Like the Sun poster
10.0

An allegorical three-part film about three types of utopia

Like the Sun

2013

The Shining Will Come Crashing Down poster
10.0

The Shining Will Come Crashing Down

The Shining Will Come Crashing Down

2019

The Shining Will Come Crashing Down poster
10.0

The Shining Will Come Crashing Down

The Shining Will Come Crashing Down

2019

Valentine One Blue Eye poster
10.0

Multiple ex-boyfriend haunts a pretty woman

Valentine One Blue Eye

2021

No artwork available
NR

A day in a Hyatt suite gone weird

Hot And Cold

2020

Nothing Happens poster
10.0

An immigrant in Istanbul, the Russian filmmaker finds himself caught between a rock and a hard place: on the one hand, his legal status becomes uncertain amid the turbulence of Turkish presidential elections, on the other hand, the crackdown on dissent in Russia makes his return impossible. In these circumstances he turns to the legacy of Moscow conceptualism, an art movement, which existed under the radar of Soviet authorities, to make a film that would convey his sentiment yet pass through the needle’s eye of censorship.

Nothing Happens

2023

Long Encounters Quick Farewells poster
NR

A group of artists set out on a quest of organising their own biennale in Istanbul.

Long Encounters Quick Farewells

We Are Your Grandfather poster
NR

A family of British descent settled in the Russian countryside is investigating its grandfather's mysterious death. One small step for men, women, children, dogs, and pigs - one giant leap for humanity.

We Are Your Grandfather

We Are Your Grandfather poster
NR

A family of British descent settled in the Russian countryside is investigating its grandfather's mysterious death. One small step for men, women, children, dogs, and pigs - one giant leap for humanity.

We Are Your Grandfather