A rare Russian work screening in Europe, DVA (two) opens on pairs of antonyms but then expands on an apocalyptic city – Moscow in reality – in an unexplained state of emergency, with voices from loudspeakers giving meaningless orders to residents; then it shuts down into asphyxiating apartments giving out mysterious noises. A lonely man looking for his dog ventures out in a wasteland, with ruins (or building sites?) of Brutalist towers. Exploring the cityscape, he finds a place where reality splits in two. Evoking the Russian faith in everything mystical and adapting it to the present, Karelina fleshes out anelegant cyberpunk film which is also a poetic declaration against war.
Alexandra Karelina (Russia 1988) is an independent filmmaker and video artist whose work consists of documentaries and experimental short films. She studied at the British Higher School of Art and Design in Moscow, the Institute of Contemporary Art, and the Moscow School of New Cinema. She works mostly with 16mm film and lives in France. Her films were selected at Image Forum Tokyo, Le Guess Who?, MIEFF, Lausanne Underground Film and Music Festival, New Holland Island International Debut Film Festival, and IFFR.
screenplay Alexandra Karelina
cinematography Egor Protsko
producer Sergey Yahontov
production COMPANY Stereotactic
cast Wassiliy Kondrashov, Anastasia Shpilko, Olga Shpilko
editing Alexandra Karelina
sound design Feliks Mirenskiy
music Darya Zvezdina
TUTTE LE PROIEZIONI SONO GRATUITE