Films by Language

Russian

Elena

Andrey Zvyagintsev

A riveting family drama and a chilling portrait of social relations in capitalist Russia, this new film from the director of The Return won a Special Jury Award at Cannes. “Tense, edge-of-the-seat stuff.” — The Guardian

Joseph Brodsky: In the Prison of Latitudes

Jan Andrews

This new film about Nobel Prize-winning poet and essayist Joseph Brodsky blends interviews, cityscapes and audio of Brodsky reciting his own work to create a poetic homage to one of the 20th century’s great literary talents.

Khodorkovsky

Cyril Tuschi

Eye-opening doco about the Russian oil oligarch, widely seen as a challenge to Putin and now in a Siberian prison. “Thoroughly researched and highly entertaining… a pungent portrait of contemporary Russia.” — Variety

My Joy

Schastye moye

Sergei Loznitsa

Documentarian Sergei Loznitsa makes an audacious and impressive feature debut with this labyrinthine journey deep into the literal and metaphorical back roads of Russia. “Arresting and powerful.” — London Film Festival

Planet Kirsan

Planeta Kirsan

Magdalena Pieta

In the tiny ex-Soviet state of Kalmykia, President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov has decreed chess to be the root of all things and has made it a compulsory subject in schools. A surreally disturbing picture of tin-pot authority in action.

Silent Souls

Ovsyanki

Aleksei Fedorchenko

Two men set out to conduct the funeral rites of a woman they both loved in this mysterious, folkloric Russian film. “It’s the combination of melancholy, humour and surrealism that makes the film so winning.” — Sight & Sound