The XXXII Message to Man Film Festival in St. Petersburg is coming to the end. Every day our website will recommend five films from its competition and out-of-competition programmes.
Balabanov. Belltower. Requiem
The work on this film began two years before Balabanov’s death as a story of the production of his film Me Too. Balabanov was never a public figure, he did not like to be interviewed, did not let strangers into his personal space, and today many would be surprised by how close the film was shot. However, it was made with the permission of the protagonist and with his direct participation. Filming continued after his death.
Timbuktu
Religious fundamentalists came to power in Timbuktu, and now everything is forbidden: music, entertainment, cigarettes and even football. Every day, the new improvised courts issue tragic and absurd sentences. Not far from Timbuktu, Kidane lives peacefully in the dunes with his wife Satima and his daughter Toya.
Subtle Fields
In the outskirts of Russia’s ancient museum city Suzdal is the Agricultural Research Institute, which has functioned since Soviet times. In 2018 a private Moscow company rented a large part of the institute’s fields and began major work on setting up a selection and seed centre there. But finding a common language with the employees of the institute turns out not to be so simple.
A new film by Dmitry Lukyanov, whose directorial debut Cells was named the best film in the National Competition at the 2021 edition of Message to Man.
Tip-Off
A sketch of everyday absurdity. The daily life of a lift technician is made up of complaints, inspections, and the commissioning of new lifts. Following one complaint, a commission is formed to detect extraneous sounds and noises in the apartment of the complainant. In the course of the inspection, a sound appears to be coming from the lift utilities.
Skin
Documentary about street art in Brazil. Graffiti, indecipherable symbols, slogans, political thoughts, hieroglyphs, declarations of love. The letters and drawings interacting with the different bodies that move through the public space. The urgent narratives of the streets that express the subjectivities of the most varied visual discourses that “dress” the Brazilian cities.
October 28, Friday Schedule:
Avrora, Big Hall, 60, Nevsky pr.
Closing film
16:00 – Balabanov. Belltower. Requiem, dir. Lyubov Arkus, Russia, 2022, 115 min.
Q&A with director Lyubov Arkus
Dom Kino, Big Hall, 12, Karavannaya street
16:45 – Timbuktu, dir. Abderrahmane Sissako, Mauritania, France, 2014, 100 min.
Panorama.doc 4
19:00 – The Coin of Malawi, dir. Alexey Fedorchenko, Russia, 2022, 60 min.
Dom Kino, Blue Hall, 12, Karavannaya street
International Competition 8
17:15 – The Eagle’s Nest, dir. MIlija Šćepanović, Montenegro, 2022, 18 min.
Oneluv, dir. Varya Yakovleva, Russia, 2022, 11 min.
Miracasas, dir. Raphaëlle Stolz, Switzerland, 2022, 14 min.
Tiger Stabs Tiger, dir. Jie Shen, China, 2022, 22 min.
No Name Cat, dir. Ghenadie Popescu, Moldova, 2022, 16 min.
Night Train, dir. Sofia Gutman, France, 2021, 3 min.
One Last Wish, dir. Galia Osmo, Israel, 2021, 10 min.
Panorama.doc 5
19:10 – Skin, dir. Marcos Pimentel, Brazil, 2021, 75 min.
Lendoc, Big Hall, 12, naberezhnaya Kryukova kanala
19:30 – Closing and Awards Ceremony
Velikan Park, Small Hall 3, 4, Alexandrovsky park BUILDING 3
National Competition 9
20:05 – Tip-Off, dir. Slava Fedorov, Russia, 2021, 76 min.
National Competition 10
21:40 – Subtle Fields, dir. Dmitry Lookianov, Russia, 2022, 118 min.
Velikan Park, Small Hall 4, 4, Alexandrovsky park BUILDING 3
New Voices 9
19:00 – Spleen and Ideal. Three Short Films
Homage to the Work of Philip Henry Gosse, dir. Pablo Martín Weber, Argentina, 2020, 22 min.
Mourning, dir. Pablo Martín Weber, Argentina, 2021, 27 min.
Past Perfect, dir. Jorge Jácome, Portugal, 2019, 23 min.
