Kanopy (Firm)
1) Space dogs
Language
Russian
Description
Laika, a stray dog picked up by the Soviet space program on the streets of Moscow, became the first living being to orbit the earth when she was launched into space on Sputnik 2. Although Laika would not survive the journey, directors Elsa Kremser and Levin Peter trace the persistence of her memory and legacy into the present day. As the capsule containing Laika re-entered Earth’s orbit and began to burn up, the narrator announces “What had been...
2) Absurdistan
Language
Russian
Description
Welcome to Absurdistan, a small village in the high desert mountains, just on the outskirts of reality, where magical visions and bizarre events fuse together. The village is facing a water shortage, but the men are too lazy to fix a rickety pipeline and the women are getting fed up with their good-for-nothing husbands. Led by young Aya, the women make a simple vow: “No water, no sex.” The men's only hope is Temelko, whose long-promised wedding...
3) Tesnota
Language
Russian
Description
TESNOTA (CLOSENESS, 2017) is the incendiary debut feature from the young and brilliant Kantemir Balagov (Beanpole). 1998, Nalchik, the North Caucasus, Russia. 24-year-old Ilana works in her father’s garage to help him make ends meet. One evening, her extended family and friends gather to celebrate the engagement of her younger brother David. Later that night, the young couple is kidnapped, and a ransom demand delivered. In this close-knit Jewish...
4) Zerograd
Language
Russian
Description
Follows an Everyman engineer named Varakin who arrives in a remote city where nothing quite makes sense, but everyone acts as if it does. He's quickly drawn into the investigation of the suicide (or possibly murder?) of a local restaurant chef, Nikolaev, who may (or may not) be Varakin's missing father. The more complex and absurdist the mystery becomes, the more poignant and plaintive Varakin's predicament, 'I have to get back to Moscow,' he pleads...