2017 Russian Resurrection Film Festival

A Spectacular Line-Up

View the Festival trailer here.

Tickets and full programme details are now available for what promises to be a thrilling season for the 2017 Russian Resurrection Film Festival at: http://russianresurrection.com/2017

From humble beginnings in just 3 capital cities, Australia's Russian Resurrection Film Festival has grown to become the largest and most respected celebration of contemporary and classic Russian cinema outside of Russia!

For its 14th outing, this colourful event will take place in 5 cities around Australia (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth & Canberra), in addition to a New Zealand season in Auckland, and in Melbourne will screen from 9 to 19 November at Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) at Federation Square.

Bursting with a fabulous and richly diverse slate of 14 outstanding new features, the 2017 Festival also includes an Andrei Konchalovsky Retrospective, which will showcase 6 of the revered director's most popular films including Nest of the Gentry (1969), Uncle Vanya (1970) and Runaway Train (1985), plus a Festival sidebar, Mosfilm Classics, which will screen two past, cinematic gems, 12 Chairs (1971) and The Shooting Party (1978).

'We have carefully selected a line-up that represents the range and breadth of quality of Russia's dynamic film industry," said Festival Director, Nicholas Makysmow, 'so whether you're looking to immerse yourself in Russian culture, undertake a historical journey, succumb to an entertaining romance or take the kids to a great movie, this year's programme will satisfy all tastes!"

Launching the Melbourne season in splendid style at the Festival's renowned Opening Night Gala, will be director Karen Shakhnazarov's Anna Karenina: Vronsky's Story. Set in 1904, 30 years after the heartbreaking events of Tolstoy's novel, this drama brings together Anna's son, Sergei Karenin and Alexey Vronsky who find themselves joined by fate in a remote Manchurian village, where they try to find answers to Anna's suicide, a tragedy which has haunted both their lives.

Additional highlights of the 2017 Russian Resurrection Film Festival include:

Spacewalkers (2017) Director: Dmitry Kiselyov
Based on a true story, Spacewalkers is set during the heat of the Space Race where USSR and the USA competed for supremacy in space. Both superpowers aim to be the first to have a man walk in outer space and it's up to the unlikely duo of a seasoned war veteran and a hot-headed test-pilot to fulfil the mission.

Arrhythmia (2017) Director: Boris Khlebnikov
This art-house drama took home the major prize for Best Film at the 2017 edition of Russia's esteemed Kinotavr Film Festival and went on to make its international debut at Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, where its male lead, Alexander Yatsenko, was awarded Best Actor. The film follows the lives of Oleg, a gifted and opinionated paramedic and his wife Katya who both work in a hospital emergency department. Caught between emergency calls, alcohol-fuelled sessions and the search for a meaning in life, Oleg and Katya need to find the binding force that keeps them together.

About Love: Adults Only (2017) Director: Ensemble directorial feature
Set during a Moscow summer in 2016 this is the Festival's -must-see' comedy for 2017! A sequel to the popular 2015 About Love, this follow-up features a new lecture, a new guest lecturer (played by renowned American actor and director, John Malkovich) and a new theme: 'How to preserve love in the modern world". Five different love stories are brought together in this hilarious light-hearted comedy.

Cold Tango (2017) Director: Pael Chukhray
In 1941, the German Army sweeps into Lithuania plunging its Jewish population, including young Max and his family, into grave peril. The film recreates the terrifying realities of life under an oppressive foreign occupation - first by Nazi Germany and then by the forces of the Soviet Union. In this climate of fear and violence, Max meets and falls in love with Laima - a Lithuanian girl whose family takes him under their protection, but who also carry their own dark secrets.

The Kitchen: World Chef Battle (2017) Director: Anton Fedotov
This is the greatly anticipated and witty sequel to the hit Kitchen in Paris. Before meeting Anna, a beautiful French woman, Ivan was only interested in digital codes and hacker programs. Now Anna and Ivan are both flying to Sochi to compete in the World Championship for Chefs where Anna will represent France and Ivan will cook for Russia. Ivan must earn the trust of his culinary super-team and sort out his relationship with his father, well-known chef Victor Barinov. If only Ivan would stick to the recipes - he might avoid trouble, chaos and prison - all whilst helping television personality and host for the World Championship for Chefs, Dmitri Nagiev, escape a forced marriage.

Snow Queen 3 – Fire and Ice (2017) Director: Alexei Tsitsilyn
The sequel to the popular family animations The Snow Queen and Snow Queen 2. After heroically defeating both the Snow Queen and the Snow King, Gerda still cannot attain peace. She embarks upon a mission to find her parents and with the help of her friends, undertakes a thrilling journey, encountering new challenges along the way.

Blockbuster (2017) Director: Roman Volobuev
A fast-paced black comedy, Blockbuster is about two young women on the run and their unlikely friendship as a result of a wild series of bizarre events. A satirical take on modern television, low-rent media and the heroes of our times, with each girl struggling for the ultimate breakthrough.

Viking (2016) Director: Andrei Kravchuk
Starring Russian heart-throb, Danila Kozlovsky, a guest of the 2016 Festival, this epic historical action-drama returns to the dark ages of heavy swords, muddy battles and rollicking passions when great chaos gave rise to heroic events.

Date and venues for the 2017 Russian Resurrection Film Festival are
Sydney: 26 October to 5 November at Event Cinemas George Street and Burwood
Perth: 27 October to 1 November at Cinema Paradiso, Northbridge
Brisbane: 01 November to 08 November at Event Cinemas Myer Centre Brisbane City Canberra: 10-15 November at Capitol Cinemas Manuka
Melbourne: 09 to 19 November at ACMI
Auckland NZ: from 08 to 12 November at Rialto Cinemas Newmarket

To stay up to date with Russian Resurrection Film Festival visit: http://russianresurrection.com/2017