Dolce...

Regarded as one of the most important directors today, Alexsandr Sokúrov was born in 1951 in the city of Podorvikha (Siberia). His father was an officer in the Russian army, a veteran of World War II. The family was constantly on the move, and Sokúrov began his school days in Poland and continued in Turkestan. He majored in history in 1974 and later studied in the VGIK, the famous Institute of Filmography in Russia, where he obtained a diploma in 1979 - one year before that foreseen, owing to conflict with the institution and with the powerful Goskino, the state department of cinema. His work, even as a student, was unacceptable to Russian bureaucracy, and he was accused of formalism and of assuming "anti-Soviet views". His first feature, The Lonely Human Voice (1978) was refused as a graduating project by the VGIK. The support he met with from Andrei Tarkovski (1932-1986) at this time were important and decisive. Tarkovski was enthusiastic about his first feature. Influenced by the acknowledged film maker, young Sokúrov was employed by Lenfilm studios in 1980 which made his initial films possible - the majority censored by the Russian government. Only as from 1986, with the democratic reform from the glasnost, were the public permitted to view his films. During the nineties, Sokúrov`s films were shown at several festivals, with international awards: the Fipresci (International Federation of Film Critics) Award, the Tarkovsky Award, and the Russian State Award. Sokúrov\\\`s films were shown in Brazil as from 1997, at the 21st Mostra with the touching Mother and Son (1997). Moloch (1999) was included in the 23rd Mostra, dolce… (1999) in the 24th Mostra, and Elegy of a Voyage (2001) at the 25th Mostra. The Retrospectiva Alexsandr Sokúrov in this 26th Mostra includes 11 fiction features and 20 documentaries, amongst which the celebrated series of nine Elegys, small visual essays that have become the hallmark of the poetry in Sokúrov.

43ª MOSTRA INTERNACIONAL DE CINEMA

43ª MOSTRA INTERNACIONAL DE CINEMA