FIPRESCI – Den internasjonale kritikerprisen / The International Critic’s Award

2008

Yang Ik June

Yun Jong Ho

Yang Ik June, Kim Kkobbi, Joung Maan Sik, Lee Hwan

2h 10m

Showbox Inc.

Før Yang Ik-Joon regidebuterte med BREATHLESS, der han også spiller hovedrollen, var hans karriere i filmbransjen mest preget av mindre roller som skuespiller. Med debuten har han dog begynt å gjøre sitt navn kjent ved å vinne blant annet Tigerprisen på ROTTERDAM INTERNASJONALE FILMFESTIVAL.

Before Yang Ik-Joon made his directorial debut with BREATHLESS, where he also plays the leading role, his career in the movie business was mostly based on smaller acting jobs. With BREATHLESS he has proven that he can excel just as well on both sides of the camera by winning the Tiger Award at the ROTTERDAM INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL as well as several Asian awards.

2005 ALWAYS BEHIND YOU (SHORT) Song-hoon er den brautende forlengede armen til den lokale gangsteren Man-shik. Hans oppvekst ble kraftig preget av hans voldelige far, som også var ansvarlig for hans søster og mors død. Dette har ført til at Song-hoon behandler både fiender og underordnede respektløst og voldelig.

Det begynner dog å endre seg da han møter ei skolejente, Han Yeon-heui som er like stygg i munnen som han selv. Sakte, men sikkert blir de to knyttet til hverandre, men når Yeon-heuis bror blir med i Man-shiks gjeng uten at hun vet om det, blir det klart at det brutale miljøet kanskje ikke vil tillate at vennskapet deres overlever.

BREATHLESS tilbyr et innsyn i en verden preget av kynisk vold, men omhandler også hvordan kjærlighet kan være i stand til å frelse en fortapt sjel.

Song-hoon is a foulmouthed extortionist for one of the local gangsters, Man-shik. Having grown up with a violent father who was responsible for the deaths of both his mother and sister, Song-hoon now directs his own seemingly limitless store of violence toward enemies and subordinates alike.

Things begin to change when he meets a similarly foulmouthed schoolgirl, Han Yeon-heui. Slowly but surely, an unlikely bond develops between the two. But when Yeonheui’s brother joins Man-shik’s gang without his sister’s knowledge, it becomes clear that the brutality of their environment may not allow the fragile emotional connection between them to survive.

BREATHLESS presents a view of a world full of cyclical violence, and suggests how love might just redeem a lost soul.

2009

Aleksei Mizgiryov

SCrEEnPlAy: Aleksei Mizgiryov

Vadim Deyev

Natalya Negoda, Dmitry Kulichkov, Yelena Lyadova, Sergei Neudachin

1h 45m

Central Partnership

Aleksej Mizgirjov ble født i 1974, og studerte film under Vadim Abdrashitov ved Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography i Moskva. I løpet av studietiden laget han en rekke kortfilmer, som har blitt vist på ulike filmfestivaler. Den første langfilmen, KREMEN, kom i 2007.

Aleksei Mizgiryov was born in 1974, and studied filmmaking at the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography in Moscow, where he took Vadim Abdrashitov’s classes. He made several short films during his studies, and they have been screened at various film festivals. His first feature film, KREMEN, was released in 2007. Bibliotekaren Katja er 45 år, og har det ikke lett. Hun bor på et hostel og lever på en minstelønn som alltid er forsinket. Men livet overrasker, og tar en uventet vending som får tilværelsen til å se lysere ut. Katja arver en leilighet av sin far og finner kjærligheten.

Lykken er imidlertid kortvarig: kjæresten oppdager at Katja har en hemmelighet, og han forlater henne. Livet som for en stund var fylt av muligheter, håp og det hun trodde var ekte kjærlighet, har blitt revet fra henne. Uten noe å tape bestemmer hun seg for å ta hevn.

Filmen utspiller seg i gruveregionen Tula i 1996, like etter en landsomfattende streik som paralyserte Russland. Historien handler om kjærlighet, men også om et folk som gjør sitt beste for å overleve i et land lammet av økonomisk krise.

For the 45 year old librarian Katya life has always been a struggle. She rents a room in a hostel and has to get by on her miserable librarian’s wage.

But life is full of surprises, and takes a turn for the better when Katya inherits an apartment from her father, and falls in love. But her newfound happiness doesn’t last long: Katya’s lover discovers a secret she’s been keeping from him, and leaves her. Her life was for a moment full of opportunities, hope, and what she thought to be true love, but it was all taken from her. She has nothing left to lose, and decides to have her vengeance.

The film is set in the mining region of Tula in 1996, in the aftermath of a nation wide strike that paralyzed Russia. It is a story of love, but also of a people that does its best to survive in a country stunned by financial crisis.

2000 A BAD APARTMENT (SHORT) 2001 NINA (SHORT) 2004 NOTIFICATION (SHORT) 2007 KREMEN / HARD-HEARTED (TIFF 2009) 2008 KAMENNAYA BASHKA