Portret v sumerkhak

Russia

Synopsis

The social worker Marina, a child psychologist in her mid-life crisis, gets injured by policemen. She seeks revenge. When she finally meets the initiator of the dramatic event, she decides to use her professional skills instead of common weapons.

Director's Statement

It was a pleasure to work on a story so deep both psychologically and philosophically, a story that is multilayered, a story that bears an unexpected, controversial turn. My intention was to emphasise the power of the script by giving the film maximum authenticity. It was important for me that the film smells. There were a few techniques that I used to achieve that effect: Two handheld cameras, no laid-over music, no artificial lighting, and no beautifying, perfecting make-up on actors. This naturalistic approach to storytelling contributed to the honesty of the story and gave it an extra powerful effect. It was also important for me that my non-actors (most of the people on screen including the main character, the cop) were able to improvise with the text without changing the main message of the lines. That helped me to get the most out of everyone’s performance.
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Cast & Crew

Directed by: Angelina Nikonova

Written by: Angelina Nikonova, Olga Dihovichnaya

Produced by: Olga Dihovichnaya, Leonid Ogaryov, Angelina Nikonova

Cinematography: Eben Bull

Editing: Elena Afanasyeva

Production Design: Oleg Fedihin

Original Score: Georgi Ermolenko

Cast: Olga Dihovichnaya, Sergei Borisov, Roman Merinov, Sergey Golyudov, Anna Ageeva

Nominations and Awards

  • European Discovery - Prix Fipresci 2012