Iconoscope

The true, detailed lives of the girls of the Russian pop duo t.A.T.u. as they break through in their promotional tour in America.

Director Vitaly Manskiy sets off on the trail of the Trans-Siberian gas pipeline to find out what it’s like for ordinary people living in its vicinity. This visually refined road movie, eloquently illustrating the absurd banality of modern Russia, is also an unsettling portrait of a gas line on which most of Europe is reliant.

"Gorbachev. Heaven" is a documentary film about changes that reverberated throughout the world wrought by one man. A film summing-up the life of a man who changed the world in the 20th century. Gorbachev’s short time in power was marked by the collapse of this empire. He was the architect of Glasnost and Perestroika, policies that gave the citizens of the Soviet Union – what Ronald Reagan called “the Evil Empire” – a chance to be free. He tore down the Berlin Wall. But at the same time, under his rule, the Chernobyl nuclear facility exploded and its destruction was concealed. Citizens demanding independence in the Baltic states died. Soldiers wielding shovels brutally suppressed protesters in Tbilisi. And Soviet tanks menaced, and killed, peaceful demonstrators in Baku. The Soviet empire collapsed under him – and he is condemned by his own people. With this burden of the past, this lonely old man is living the last days of his life in an empty house in the suburbs near Moscow.

The action takes place against the backdrop of the meager life of a decaying Russian village, where several women and an elderly alcoholic man remain. Two old women live here, the youngest of whom, Praskovya, devoted her whole life to her older sister Maria, who stopped growing in her early childhood. The only young woman in the village is expecting a child: everyone believes that from an angel.

Over the course of one year, this film follows the life of an ordinary Pyongyang family whose daughter was chosen to take part in one of the famous Korean "Spartakiads". The ritualized explosions of color and joy contrast sharply with pale everyday reality, which is not particularly terrible, but rather quite surreal, like a typical life as seen "through the looking glass".

Using Cuban cities as the backdrop to personal stories, the renowned documentary maker Vitaly Mansky depicts the complexity of contemporary Cuba. As the regime begins to slightly relax its iron grip, the island begins to slowly open up to the world. Despite the economic hardship, a life full of passion, temperament and energy still pulsates in Cuban cities. Food is rationed and decent living conditions is an illusion for many. The dreams of today’s senior citizens, who believed in Fidel and his communist experiment 50 years ago, have not been fully realized. Children of these revolutionaries still follow the ideals of the revolution but do not seem all that convinced. Instead young people prefer to enjoy small pleasures the regime allows for. While many Cubans look for life outside of Cuba, for tourists the island is for many reasons very special destination. Motherland or Death is the story of real life played out against the picturesque background of today’s Cuba.

Refugees from the Caucasian republics, Armenians, Azerbaijanis and Russians, meet on the shore of the Black Sea: they work as shop keepers, life guards, karaoke singers, or just enjoy their holidays. It all happens at a place called Broadway, which is no-where to be found on a map, not even the most detailed ones. The temporary inhabitants of Broadway construct a whole world en miniature, consisting of small carts, tents or booths parked in close, haphazard rows. The scenery, which is put up for a few weeks during the summer, bubbles with life – and in no way corresponds with ordinary daily life in Russia.

Russian Federation, December 31, 1999. After President Boris Yeltsin's unexpected resignation, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin becomes acting president of the country. From that day and for a year, Vitaly Mansky's camera documented Putin's rise to power. The story of a privileged witness. The harsh explanation of the reason why politics is the art of possibility of achieving the best with the support of many, but also of giving the worst in return.

Anything can be sold and bought in our modern world. Virginity too. How much is its worth in dollars? Is it worth keeping till marriage? These are the questions girls ask nowadays. But is virginity the only thing a modern girl is ready to sell? Vitalij Manskij’s film follows the stories of three teenage girls from the provinces who come to Moscow wanting to succeed. Each of them has her own plan. One girl hopes to enter popular reality TV show “House 2”. The second thinks she is the new Madonna, or at least, another Britney Spears. The third girl is ready to sell her virginity to get the money she needs for her studies.