Mikhail Plutakhin

The young scientist Alexey invites his colleagues to present his invention. The real reason for the presentation lies in the teacher Alexey, whom he wants to publicly surpass.

An avant-garde adaptation of the play by Georg Buchner about the last days of the Dantonists, representatives of the right wing of the Jacobins during the French Revolution. The director freely experiment with form and content, draws parallels with the present day and raises the question point-blank: why does the revolution, like the ancient Greek titan Kronos, always devour its children?

All day long the TV shows an ice-hole. Ice-holes are the theme of the day, a winter tradition that unites believers and sportsmen, stars and walruses, the president and the unemployed. In the centre of the news reports are the topics of Baptism, fishing and the criminal chronicle. The president and a pike, the artist and the crit- ics, the oligarch and the law enforcement team – they all meet at an ice- hole in search of solutions for their problems. The jobless Muscovite, with bad habits, dives down an ice-hole for a wife, just like Sadko. The fairy- tale plots intertwine with documentary context, and it is no longer clear where reality ends. Remember Nietzsche: if you long gaze into the abyss, the abyss will also gaze into you.

Combining the techniques of object theater with cinematic ones, the authors create a fragile visual and musical world of childhood memories. In this world, there is a cozy little light in the window and the clock is ticking. And then, this secluded children’s world is ruthlessly invaded by a large adult war. The camera captures details and scrutinizes textures, immersing the spectator into history through a biography of things, where music and sound design become the main vehicles. The soundtrack of the performance-film features songs and poems in Yiddish from the repertoire of Leibu Levin, reader and composer.

Combining the techniques of object theater with cinematic ones, the authors create a fragile visual and musical world of childhood memories. In this world, there is a cozy little light in the window and the clock is ticking. And then, this secluded children’s world is ruthlessly invaded by a large adult war. The camera captures details and scrutinizes textures, immersing the spectator into history through a biography of things, where music and sound design become the main vehicles. The soundtrack of the performance-film features songs and poems in Yiddish from the repertoire of Leibu Levin, reader and composer.