new wave films
How I Ended this Summer
A film by Alexei Popogrebsky
Synopsis
A polar station on a desolate island in the Arctic Ocean - Sergei, a seasoned meteorologist, and Pavel, a recent college graduate, are spending months in complete isolation on the once strategic research base. Pavel receives an important radio message and is still trying to find the right moment to tell Sergei, but his innate fear of the older man prevents him passing on the message. From this deception, lies and suspicions start poisoning the atmosphere that leads to a suspense-filled climax . The actors Sergei Puskepalis and Grigory Dobrygin were jointly awarded the Best Actor Prize in this year’s Berlin Film Festival for their performances as two men forced to carve out a relationship of trust and, ultimately, forgiveness in the desolate Russian Arctic.
How I Ended This Summer (Kak Ya Provel Etim Letom - Как я провел этим летом) is a visually stunning existentialist drama of survival, entirely filmed on location at one of the remotest and bleakest places in the world.
WINNER OF 2 SILVER BEARS BERLIN FILM FESTIVAL 2010
BEST ACTOR (Grigory Dobrygin and Sergei Puskepalis) &
OUTSTANDING ARTISTIC CONTRIBUTION (DoP Pavel Kostomarov)
GOLDEN HUGO - BEST FILM Chicago Film Festival
Where It's On
Week Commencing 1.07.11
| Belmont | 49 Belmont Street | Aberdeen AB10 1JS | 0122 434 3536 | all week |
| Queen's Film Theatre | 20 University Square | Belfast BT7 1PA | 028 9097 1097 | 5-7 July |
| Filmhouse |
88 Lothian Road |
Edinburgh EH3 9BZ |
0131 228 2688 |
7th July only |
Week Commencing 8.07.2011
| Savoy | Causewayhead | Penzance TR18 2SN | 01736 363330 | 10-11 July |
| The Little Theatre Cinema | St Michael's Place |
Bath BA1 1SF | 0871 704 2061 |
11-14 July |
| Royal Cinema | Royal Square | St Ives TR26 2ND | 01736 796843 | 12-13 July |
| Phoenix | 11 Berkeley Vale | Falmouth TR11 3PL | 01326 313 072 | 14th July only |
| Eden Court | Bishops Road | Inverness IV3 5SA | 01463 234 234 | 13-14 July |
Director — Alexei Popogrebsky
In 1994 he teamed up with his friend, Boris Khlebnikov, a film theory student at VGIK, to make two short films. After a few shorts, they finalized their debut feature, Koktebel (2003), which showed at many festivals, including the Forum section of the Berlin Film Festival. It received numerous awards. Alexei and Boris then went on to work independently, collaborating with producer Roman Borisevich under the Koktebel Film Company marquee. How I ended this Summer is Alexei Popogrebsky's latest film.
Filmography
2003 KOKTEBEL (KOKTEBEL)(with Boris Khlebnikov)
Silver St. George - Moscow IFF 2003
Philipp Morris Award - Karlovy Vary IFF 2003
Golden Lily Award - goEast film festival, Wiesbaden 2004
FIPRESCI Discovery of the Year - Cannes 2004
2007 PROSTYE VESHCHI (SIMPLE THINGS)
Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor – Open Russian FF Kinotavr, Sochi 2007
Best Actor, FIPRESCI and Ecumenical Jury Awards - Karlovy Vary IFF 2007
Best Feature, Best Actor - Festival d'Angers Premiers Plans 2008
Best Script – Golden Eagle Russian Film Academy Awards 2008
Best Script – Nika Russian Film Academy Awards 2008
2010 KAK YA PROVEL ETIM LETOM (HOW I ENDED THIS SUMMER)
Cast & Credits
Grigory Dobrygin
Sergei Puskepalis
CREW
Director - Alexei Popogrebsky
Producers - Roman Borisevich and Alexandr Kushaev
Screenplay - Alexei Popogrebsky
Photography - Pavel Kostomarov
Editor - Ivan Lebedev
Music - Dmitry Katkhanov
Costumes- Svetlana Mikhailova
Production Design - Gennady Popov
Sound Editor - Vladimir Golovnitski
Make Up - Natalia Angelova
Casting - Olga Granina
Production - KOKTEBEL Film Company
Co-Production - TV CHANNEL RUSSIA in association with STARTFILM COMPANY
with the support of - Russian Federation Ministry of Culture, Government of the Chukotka Autonomous District Russia 2010 / Dolby SRD / 1:1.85 / 124 minutes
Images
Click any still to enlarge
The Critics
★★★★★
A terrific film…as the stunning closing time-lapse image reminds us, a picture of solitude, of life as it is really lived at the end of the world.”
Jonathan Romney THE INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY
FILM OF THE WEEK
Cast adrift to live life on the edge…An award-winning tale of two meteorologists isolated on a remote Arctic island is a tense allegory of modern Russia”
Philip French THE OBSERVER
★★★★
“Winner of the Berlin film festival Silver Bear, beautifully shot…superbly acted two-man drama…a gripping, involving and wonderfully acted piece of work”
Peter Bradshaw THE GUARDIAN
★★★★
A masterpiece of slow-building tension.
Jenny McCartney THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH
★★★★
“Slow-burning, visually stunning…Superbly acted and photographed, this is pure cinema”
Wendy Ide THE TIMES
★★★★
A Tarkovskian parable about nuclear horror which also functions as a sustained, nail-biting psychological thriller…about trust, fraying communications, wilderness survival tactics.
Deceit and paranoia escalate…a hungry polar bear and contaminated trout up the stakes…a surrogate father-son relationship that’s just gone haywire”
Tim Robey THE DAILY TELEGRAPH
★★★★
“Part psychological thriller, part a paean to the beauty and remoteness of its setting…shot by cinematographer Pavel Kostamarov with rare and atmospheric skill…The director is an exceptional filmmaker”
Derek Malcolm THE EVENING STANDARD
★★★★
This terrific film...
Antonia Quirke THE FINANCIAL TIMES
★★★★
“Remarkable drama...Memorable”
‘Rich in resonance, the story can be read partly as a brutal coming-of-age story, with the two men as a surrogate father-son duo; as a quasi-religious ordeal in which Danilov must go through earthly hell to redeem himself...but the film also works as a nail-biting yarn, a tale of extraordinary endurance.’
Jonathan Romney, SCREEN INTERNATIONAL
‘... a terrific exploration of human fragility....Popogrebsky is shaping up into one of Russia's most talented, distinctive and potentially exportable directors’Leslie Felperin, VARIETY
“An extraordinary evocation … inside the Arctic Circle…the cinematography is striking”
“A gripping psychological drama.”
Derek Malcolm, THE EVENING STANDARD
“Part vice-like psycho-thriller, part action-adventure, part gorgeous-looking art film”
Sheila Johnston,THE TELEGRAPH
‘An elemental cat-and-mouse psychodrama set in the frozen north, by one of Russia’s brightest new talents’Ian Christie, SIGHT & SOUND
‘A gripping narrative’
‘The only film at this year’s Berlin Film Festival that came anywhere near mattering as an adventure in cinema and in the concrete world.’
‘A magnificent adventure in outward-bound filmmaking in the Flaherty/Herzog tradition of Actualy Going There.’
SIGHT & SOUND
“A taut psychological drama set against a striking polar landscape”.
‘ Subtle, compelling performances…striking cinematography and well-chosen music. ‘
‘Highly original, and with a unique atmosphere and sense of place, this is a memorable and deeply affecting work.’
‘A taut psychological drama made all the more gripping by the isolation and desolation of its setting.
Sandra Hebron, LFF2010
“Beautifully shot on an isolated Russian arctic island”
Carmen Gray, DAZED & CONFUSED
Read Interview with Alexei Popogrebsky in Dazed & Confused
“An excellent work…hypnotic…magic”
Howard Feinstein, FILMMAKER MAGAZINE
Links
Trailer in HD
Q&A at NFT preview March 28 A Full version of this will be on the DVD and BluRay
Watch a Video of the Berlin press conference
Read Interview with Alexei Popogrebsky in Dazed & ConfusedShort 3D film by Alexei Popogrebsky Bloodrop only 2D here unfortunately
Buy a DVD of Koktebel, a film by Alexei Popogrebsky and Boris Khlebnikov from Artificial Eye
Photos for download:
Bookings & Press
For film bookings please contact Colin Burch at Verve Pictures — [email protected]. Press resources are on the Press page.