From the 9th to the 11th December, the Russian Film Festival was hosted in Melbourne. The three-day showcase of the best Russian films gathered an audience of 1200 people. The most watched films ended up being "Land of Legends" and the "Detective Chirp and the Golden Beehive".
"Land of Legends", the highest grossing Russian film of 2022, was the undisputed leader in the Russian Film Festival (RFF). It is a historic film epic about the ancient nations of the Ural region, about the battle between two civilizations, at the center of which there is a love story between Duke Mikhail and a young pagan witch. As the organizers of the event in Melbourne noted, Australia is a multicultural country where people show great interest in historic themes. Furthermore, the audience reviews praised the film for its breathtaking visual effects.
"For local Australians, it's bit hard to understand the Russian history. But the plot is delicately designed, even including a romantic line in it, easy to understand. Can feel the adrenaline rush during the watching experience. Stunning VFX, pleasure to experience in real world. This film resonates well with mass audience, not arty but a mature commercial film." the audience members commented.
Australia became the first country, where the RFF showcased the film "Land of Legends", it appeared on the Russian big screen only two months prior and maintained the number one spot for eight weeks in a row.
Similarly, the animated film, "Detective Chirp and the Golden Beehive", was extremely popular in Australia. It combined two popular genres, detective and comedy. It sparked a special interest in the younger audience through the use of innovative technologies: it is the first film to be completely created on a video game engine, used prior to this only in video games. The international premiere of the Russian animated film was held at the end of November in Dubai, also during the Russian Film Festival. In the United Arab Emirates, the animated film became a hit with the local audiences.
The Australian audiences praised the animated film, "Fixies Vs. Crabots". "It is a well-made family animation. This is the first time for my kids to know fixies the characters and the story. They fell in love with it in minutes. The production quality is great, music tone, colors and character setup. Such a surprise to know Russian industry has the capabilities to produce world-class animation", children and parents shared their views after the film.
The viewers noted the brilliant acting in the comedy "A Young Man". As a member of the audience commented, this film is in contention for one of the best comedies of the year, with a "solid story and strong actor performance.".
The representatives of the academic community were among the audience of the Russian Film Festival, specifically, teachers and students of the cinematography schools. "Thanks to Russian Film Festival for giving us an opportunity to know more about Russian culture and Russian productions! I'd love to engage my students in the filming projects with Russian filmmakers", one of the teachers said.
The audience's feedback made it clear that the Russian film festival should return to Australia next year. The guests of the festival also expressed their wish to see a longer version of the festival next time, with more screenings.
The Russian Film Festival program in Australia:
- "Land of Legends" (directed byAnton Megerdichev, 2022) – and epic action-drama based on the novel by Alexi Ivanov. A Russian duke Mikhail and a young Tiche are children of different nations, different worlds and different Gods. The love of a young warrior and a witch seems impossible. But love overcomes all obstacles, and initiates the wheel of consequences. From now on, the future of the ancient lands depends solely on Mikhail, who is filled with blood of ancient Pagan Gods. Here, ghosts, heroes, dukes and shamans collide. To give up your life here is nothing compared to having to choose between your honor, loyalty to your brotherhood, and love for a woman.
- "The One" (directed by Dmitriy Suvorov, 2022) – a drama based on true events. On 24th of August, 1981, newlyweds Larisa and Vladimir Savitsky boarded a plane on route from Komsomolsk-on-Amur to Blagoveshensk. Half an hour before landing, Flight AH-24 collided with another aircraft and broke into pieces at the altitude of 5 kilometers. No one should have survived, but a miracle happened. Larisa woke amidst the ruins of the plane, in the middle of the Taiga forest.
- "A Young Man" (directed by Alexander Fomin, 2022) – a fun comedy about the conflict of generations. Despite finishing school with honours, and excelling at college, by the age of thirty, Ivan ended up with nothing; his wife left him, he was fired from his job… At rock bottom, he finds out that his classmate, a terrible student, Kolya, became a very successful businessman. Kolya decided to host a competition for high school students, with a multimillion dollar prize. Ivan, who looks much younger than his actuasl age, decided to trick Kolya. He shaved his beard, forged his documents, and set out to participate in the competition, confident that hie will defeat the much younger high schoolers…
- "Detective Chirp and the Golden Beehive" (directed by Grigori Vozjakin, 2022) – Russian animation film produced by "Souzmultfilm" and "Magic Factory", based on the animated series Secrets of the Honey Valley. The project combines two popular genres – a crime story and a comedy. A wise owl private eye Sofie and her eager assistant – a squirrel named Chirp – undertake the investigation of a very peculiar case. The main characters, their friends and the citizens of the Honey Valley will have to fight a super villain in order to prevent the theft and destruction of the Golden Beehive artefact. Legend says that this artefact controls the weather in the Valley…
- "Fixies vs. Crabots" (directed by Vasili Bedoshvili, Oleg Uzjinov, Ivan Pshoshkin, 2019) – an animation film about Fixies – tiny, cute humanoids, which live inside appliances and tech equipment, and look after it. Well… They fix stuff. Fixies hide from humans. There are but a few lucky people in the world who's ever gotten to see them. The laboratory of Professor Chudakov, is where the school of Fixies is based. Only two people know about it, a boy named DimDimich and his friend Katia. However, one day, mysterious, elusive creatures appear – Robots-Crabots. They spy on the Fixies and threaten to reveal them…
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