Finding yourself Five incredibly deep and diverse stories from the lives of ordinary Belarusians. Five destinies, told by different authors, but creating, nevertheless, a single and very organic whole. Short films vary in duration and genre performance: from light comedy to acute social cinema. Their stories are not related to each other, but together they leave a picture of our world today, raise the problems of modern man.
"Gift of Santa Claus" (director Evgeny Setko). E. Setko before that specialized exclusively in documentary films. Only the lazy do not know him released on the anniversary of the Chernobyl tragedy. Exam for the Nation" or soulful film about Viktor Turov - a tribute to the famous film director and teacher. This movie was actually his first. However, the director, as well as the writer of the script, managed to create a light ironic lyrical-comic story that can occur, and usually occurs, exclusively on New Year's Eve. Anton and Masha dream only of an easy life, fast and big money. Like every maximalist youth dreams of. He is a young thief who works at the railway station. Without winter clothes and money, she hides in the same suitcase that Anton steals. As a result, young people are faced with a number of problems, get into comic situations, but in the end suddenly come to understand something new – true values and meaning. Personally, the “Gift of Santa Claus” pleased me with its ease and atmosphere of celebration.
"The Traveler" (directed by Anastasia Miroshnichenko). As in the previous case, the author is a master of documentary, and the work of Anastasia Miroshnichenko always highlights the acute social overtones, whether it is the life of a homeless genius artist (the film “Crossroads” managed to win many awards throughout Europe) or the difficult fate of prisoners of a women’s colony (those about whom society prefers not to remember, carefully protecting their own well-being). The author did not disappoint the viewer’s expectations even now, raising the problem of misunderstanding of generations (in this case, a son and father who left their family many years ago). “The Traveler” is a story about life, love and hate. A father-child drama. You understand a lot when you can’t get anything back. We’re used to looking at things from our own perspective, but what if we tried to understand and accept them? But it is often too late. In the very construction, how the events themselves develop, there is something that relates them to the genre of documentary. The plot is built in the form of an "interview" monologue Alexei in front of a random fellow traveler - an old man in the compartment of a train. Sometimes the confession of the hero Alexander Efremov (son of the famous Belarusian director) is interrupted by inserts from his childhood. But the way this 20-minute confession-drama is pumped up cannot but shock, but at the same time make you think for yourself, that among our loved ones there are those who need us and our understanding. Maybe then such dramas in life will become much less.
"Doll." The film by Arseniy Ilyinykh along with the previous work became for me a real discovery and a highlight of the entire film almanac. A young graduate of BGAI managed to create a deep psychological story of a young couple who broke up a few years ago. However, a chance encounter once again infects hope, memories of first love. It seems that some mistakes can still be corrected, but can a young man and a girl forget old grievances, forgive and understand each other? One is hampered by pride and mystery, which Anya has been hiding for four years, the other is used to going through life easily and getting everything from her. Another fight and breakup. However, an unexpected discovery – a doll in a box turns the entire inner world of our hero and makes him break with his usual views. I hope there is still hope for this story to continue.
"Dialogue." Nadezhda Abramchuk is a psychological story of the inner world of a teenager, an 11-year-old girl who does not feel maternal love and communicates with her mother through a dog. The main topic is the loneliness of the child in the family, the history of his internal tragedy. Unfortunately, today it takes on special relevance.
"Bracho" (directed by Kirill Erokhin). The last story is the longest. At night on the bridge meet the famous rapper and aspiring poet from the city outskirts. They talk about poetry and music, come to an understanding and make plans that are destined to come true because of the drunken company of bullies. A dramatic and even tragic youth story that tells about the meaninglessness of the world through the eyes of a teenager. The author raises several very topical topics at once, be it criminal youth dramas, responsibility, teenage nihilism, etc. Bracho stands out among other works of the almanac with a black atmosphere and its hopelessness. Suffice it to say that this is the only novel in which we observe the death of the hero directly. Death is in the very atmosphere of the film, starting from the very beginning.
In conclusion, it is worth noting: the film almanac “We” is the first experience of creating such products for Belarusfilm. I hope it's not the only one. Despite the inequity of the novels both in skill and in the author’s approach, in general, a decent work was obtained. In December, we will be pleased with another almanac “War”. Remain human.”
8 out of 10