Artdokfest. Domino effect

Film about the Minister of Sports of Abkhazia and his Russian wife

The Artdokfest documentary festival in 2015 will be held in Moscow and St. Petersburg, some of the films from the competitive program are shown in Riga. Three times a week, the President of the festival Vitaly Mansky tells at Medusa about paintings from the competition. This time, the director represents the film “Domino effect” Elvira Nivira and Peter Rossolovsky (Poland, Germany, 2015).

“Domino effect” is one of the hits of the documentary festival of the last year and by the number of prizes and by the number of shows. Festivals, often fallen on some relevant and sensational topics, in this case preferred a very chamber story (almost a family diary) about how an elderly Abkhazian, working as a minister of sports of Abkhazia, brings his wife, a Russian woman to the house.

Throughout this picture-by documentary standards of rather big, almost an hour and a half-we observe a gradual rapprochement, somewhat rejection and rejection of these two crops. The feelings of the two in general not young people who have a fairly serious background make the picture very touching. “Domino effect” can be attributed to the category of documentary melodramas-they always have such a melodramatic development of the plot, but I don’t want to tell how the picture will end so as not to deprive the viewer of pleasure, well, and some sympathy, empathy to the heroes who, after the film, become, if not members of the family, then very close acquaintances.

By the way, I often experience this effect when I suddenly meet in life with the heroes of documentary paintings. I communicate with them as with loved ones, understandable to me, about whom I know everything, and they look at me as a stranger, unknown person. These first minutes of communication are always very funny.

Recently, we discussed this picture with one Western journalist, and he asked me why the authors of the film did not focus on the fact that Abkhazia was essentially controlled by Russia. Yes, this is not in the film, but it was done by people, in no way controlled by Russia, this is Polish-German production. I think they decided that an intimate story is more important than some political circumstances.

All films from the "Artdokfest" can be seen here here .

PS Festival "Artdokfest" will be held in Moscow and St. Petersburg December 8–16, 2015. Eight films from the competitive program will be shown in Riga as part of the Riga International Film Festival. The show “Domino effect” will be displayed on October 22.