Highway
Directed by Sergei Dvortsevoy
Kazakhstan 1999, 35mm, color, 57 min.
Kazakh with English subtitles
The highway of the title refers to a 2,000 mile stretch of dirt road in remote Kazakhstan. Along this route a traveling family circus journeys in their crowded hand-cranked bus, stopping in villages to perform feats of strength and skill. The filmmaker accompanies the Tadjibajevs, capturing their quarrels, performances, and intimate domestic moments. Observing their daily life in all of its routine and mystery, Dvortsevoy creates “a testament to the magical power of film to transport the onlooker into other lives and distant lands, to kindle contemplation, offer perspective and excite with the poetic beauty of exotic images” (Lawrence Van Gelder).
In the Dark
Directed by Sergei Dvortsevoy
Russia 2004, 35mm, color, 41 min.
Russian with English subtitles
Moving closer to the urban centers of Russia, Dvortsevoy turns his
camera on an elderly blind man living alone in the suburbs of Moscow. His one companion is a clever white cat who continually frustrates his work netting the string bags that he takes to the street to give away to passers-by. Unrelenting in its gaze and simple in its approach, In the Dark quietly reveals the profound pathos of solitude and isolation with humanity and tenderness.
micec
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