"A picture of the Russian countryside at the beginning of the 20th century provides insight into the darkest depths of the Russian soul from the point of view of an intellectual rebel.”

--International Centre for Cinema

The Hollow (Yar)

(Russia, 2007, 103 mins)

In Russian with English subtitles.

Directed by

Marina Razbezhkina

With

Mikhail Evlanov, Polina Filonenko, Svetlana Obidina

Producer:

Olga Agrafenina

Screenplay:

Marina Razbezhkina, Pavel Finn, Lidiya Bobrova

Camera:

Irina Uralskaya

Editor:

Yury Gedert

Music:

Anton Silayev

Screening Format:

DVD

his strange, enigmatic and strikingly atmospheric movie is the second dramatic feature from veteran documentary filmmaker Marina Razbezhkina--some four years after her acclaimed début, Harvest Time. Like Harvest Time, The Hollow is set in a village, in this case in the early years of the 20th century. It begins with an almost pagan ceremony in which the women disrobe and walk around the village through the early morning mist—beating out the devils. But the demons that haunt this story are not so easily dispersed. Based on early prose pieces by the Russian poet Sergei Yesenin, who was born into a peasant family but went on to fame and fortune (he was married to Isadora Duncan for a time), The Hollow shows Kostya (Mikhail Evianov) entering into a short-lived arranged marriage with Anna. When he discovers her with another man, he quits the village--such an unthinkable abandonment that the locals assume he must have drowned in the Volga. In fact he makes a new life for himself on the other side of the river, but things don’t go any more smoothly for him there (Vancouver International Film Festival).

Rating:

Mature themes - not recommended for viewers under 14.

Contemporary Arts Alliance wishes to acknowledge the partnership of Olga Agrafenina in presenting The Hollow.

Preceded by

My Inventions

(Cananda, 2008, 15 mins.)

Director Robert Holbrook is scheduled to attend.

With

Tygh Runyan, John Burnside

Producers:

Robert Holbrook, Robyn Wiener

his story is the lfe and legend of the brilliant and flamboyant Serbian immigrant who invented alternating current electricity, wireless technology and... the mysterious death ray! In “recently recovered vintage interview footage” the elder, pigeon-loving eccentric recounts his rise to riches and the height of celebrity, to his tragic fall into poverty and anonymity at the hands of self-serving millionaires and rival inventors.

Rating:

Suitable for all audiences.

Contemporary Arts Alliance wishes to acknowledge the partnership of Robert Holbrook in presenting My Inventions.

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