Description
Synopsis:
In 2016, Russian President Vladimir Putin created the National Guard, whose chief task is to ensure public order and counteract terrorism and “extremism”. The National Guard has powers to make arrests, employing the use of force and firearms where necessary. This film has been created using fragments of short phrases, observations and faces. It is an attempt to show the interior world of a National Guard cadet – from a young man holding a rifle in his hands for the first time to a mature fighter in action at a protest.
About the director:
Alex Evstigneev was born and grew up in Shatura, in the Moscow Region. He began his film studies at the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography (in Viktor Lisakovich and Alexei Gelein’s workshop) in 2015. Not Far Away, one of his student works, was shown at Russian and international festivals and won prizes. The Golden Buttons is his graduation project, and has won prizes at Visions du Réel, the Krakow Film Festival and the Nordic Youth Film Festival.