Russian Resurrection Film Festival
What better way to celebrate the end of (what seemed a very long) Sydney winter than with a world-class selection of films from one of the coldest countries on this planet, Russia. In its 7th year, Russian Resurrection Film Festival brings a collection of 17 new films (plus a World War II retrospective) and is said to be the largest festival of Russian film outside Russia.
The multi-award winning features One War and How I Ended This Summer, which I failed to see at the 2010 Sydney Film Festival, are my top picks. The former is a captivating story of compassion set in World War II, while the latter is an uncanny exploration of human relationship with each other, time and space. How I Ended This Summer is set on a remote Arctic island, and is praised for its beautiful cinematography.
Two more features sparked my interest and I would be keen to see either the festival opening night romantic drama Man at the Window or Peter on His Way to Heaven, a film about a a mentally handicapped youth in a prison-camp town during Stalin’s Russia.
Russian Resurrection Film Festival opens on Thursday 19 August and runs until Wednesday 1 September 2010 at Chauvel Cinema in Paddington. A selection of films will also be shown in Burwood and Bondi Junction cinemas. For a full listing, visit the Russian Resurrection website.
When in Sydney 