The Son
Andrey lives in a small provincial town near Moscow. He lives decently fostering his sick mother. She suffers a serious disease, schizophrenia. Andrey wants to save money and take his mother to Germany for a treatment. Also he understands that the disease is incurable but the treatment will alleviate mom's suffering. As the legal ways for getting an official referral to treatment in a foreign hospital are very complicated and time consuming, Andrey finds other, illegal ways and methods to execute documents. He needs much money to take her mom to Germany, but he needs even more to bribe doctors and officials. Andrey is ready for everything to get the required sum: he defers a wedding with his girlfriend, gets in contact with criminals and starts selling drugs. But the fate is merciless to the main character - his mom dies the day before the departure... He is suffering intolerable pain… But the worst thing is that he does not understand what to do and how to live ... He had a goal, now it's gone. Andrey goes to Moscow to meet his sister and father. Soon after his father has got a new family, his sister also went to Moscow, and since then has not visited Andrey and their mother. He makes attempts to establish friendly dialogue with his sister, but faces absolute indifference. Then Andrey ventures upon a meeting with the father and tracks him down. This meeting set afloat everything that was storing up deep inside him...
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Arseny GonchukovDirector
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Arseny GonchukovWriter
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Vladimir BuzovProducer
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Arseny GonchukovProducer
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Alexey ChernykhKey Cast
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Vadim AndreevKey Cast
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Еlena TonuntsKey Cast
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Olga MalakhovaKey Cast
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Lidiya OmutnykhKey Cast
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Oksana EardleyKey Cast
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Runtime:1 hour 33 minutes
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Completion Date:July 1, 2014
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Production Budget:300,000 USD
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Country of Origin:Russian Federation
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Country of Filming:Russian Federation
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Language:English
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Shooting Format:Digital
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Aspect Ratio:16:9
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Film Color:Black & White
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First-time Filmmaker:No
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Student Project:No
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XXII Vyborg Russian Cinema FestivalVyborg, Russia
August 11, 2014
National Premiere
Winner. Grand Prize - Best Feature Film -
Montréal World Film FestivalMontréal, Canada
North American Premiere -
XXIII Open Film Festival "Kinoshock"Russia, Anapa
September 26, 2014
Best Actor (Alexey Chernykh) -
XII Festival Young Cinema "Green apple -2014"Russia, Novosibirsk
October 17, 2014
Best Feature Film -
Russian Film Festival "Man knows the world"Russia, Simferopole
November 2, 2014
Special Prize (Alexey Chernykh) "For a vivid embodiment of the complex nature" -
8-th Russian Film Festival "Sputnik over Poland"Warsaw, Poland
November 29, 2014 -
10-th Russian film Week in BerlinBerlin, Germany
December 3, 2014 -
Russia Film Festival "Shukshin days in the Altai"Russia, Barnaul
July 24, 2015
Best Actor (Alexey Chernykh)
Arseny Gonchukov - director, writer, philologist, playwright. Born on 19 March 1979 in Nizhny Novgorod, t now lives in Moscow. Graduated from the Nizhny Novgorod State University, majoring in philology and from the School of Cinema at the Higher School of Economics (Fiction Film workshop headed by A. Fenchenko). Within the period of 2001 – 2010 has written scripts and shot 15 full-length documentaries for TV Channel One, TV – Russia Channel, The Star TV Channel; chief editor of the series "Preference" with participation of Russian cinema stars for Channel Five. A. Gonchukov is also known as a special correspondent, reporter, deputy director, chief editor of programs and reports on TV Channel One, TV – Russia Channel, TV- Channel Five, The Star TV Channel, Volga Channel. Worked as a special correspondent in South Ossetia in August 2008 during the dramatic events; worked as the second director of serial "Dragon Syndrome" (Channel One, directed by N. Homeriki). In 2009 his play "The Former" was included into a short list of "Lyubimovka" festival. His script "They Never Die From Love" was included into a short-list of ‘The Art of Cinema’ Magazine Contest. Gonchukov is a script writer, director and producer of the short film "The Final Stop" as well as of two full length films "1210" (2012) and "The Flight. Three days after the catastrophe" (2013), released in Russia and abroad. He participated in the 66th International Cannes Film Festival (the film "The final stop"), winner of twelve Russian, foreign and international film festivals, shoots ‘auteurr cinema’. In 2012 he wrote "Personal manifest of film director", which principles follows in the film industry.
"The only possible, true and correct course of action for director is to continue shooting films, and let he does it himself and on his own. Not to think. Not to wait. not to hope. Just do his job. For so long as you have forces, for so long as you can work. And do not compromise with your profession. You can do it with producers - can and should do. Never with yourself - never. Generally speaking –yes, you can do it, and I'm not a young man, I often do it. But in some special cases – no you can’t. - do not worry. And shoot. While there is what to shoot. And what to say. That's the main thing. Shoot. By any means. Maybe I'm rather categorical in choosing this path. But what I can do. This is the only way which makes me feel alive. This is the sense of life. "
A.Gonchukov
Awards:
"The final stop"
• Short Film Festival West Virginia Mountaineer Short Film Festival (West Virginia, United States), 2012, 1st place in the category Political Theme;
• Festival "St. Anna" (Moscow), in 2012, the diploma "For painful moments of reflection in our society";
• Festival of auteur cinema "Kinolikbez" (Barnaul), 2012;
• Silver "Jean-Luc" "For the right pathos";
• Short Film Festival "Green Apple" (Novosibirsk), 2012, the diploma "For a bold appeal to an acute social topic";
• Winner and Laureate the Independent Internet copyright movies festival of the 3rd film season ISFF (Internet Short FILM Festival)-2013;
• Diploma of a special mention in the online short film competition XXI Russian Film Festival "Window to Europe", 2013
"1210"
• Department of Culture of Moscow city, GBUK "Moscow Cinema", diploma "For the best premiere at Cinema Club" Tribune "," (Moscow), 2012;
• Fourth International Festival copyright movies "Kinolikbez-4", Silver Jean-Luc "Little Soldier" - the best film about the war;
• VI International Film Festival of Cheboksary, award "Anna" for "The Best performance of the male lead," Russia, Cheboksary, 2013;
• National Award "Country", the best film in the nomination "Start", Moscow, 2013
• X International festival of military-patriotic film "Volokolamsk frontier" Special Jury Prize, Volokolamsk, 2013.
• Diploma of the nominee XVI International Festival of detective films and TV programs law enforcement subject "Detective FEST", Moscow, 2013
Quotes and statements about the director.
"Perhaps, the director Arseny Gonchukov will deny that his three feature films -" 1210 "," Flight. Three days after the catastrophe" and "The Son "- formed in a kind of trilogy. Unlikely author thinks about what and how he shoots - and in what order? However unwittingly turns out that there is traced a line in these three films. It is simple to define it – these films tell about a person, even if it may seem trivial to someone, but in our time - such a rarity when creating movies about ordinary people, so recognizable and understandable for us, and for whom we want to empathize. When the Gonchukov`s characters placed in such difficult circumstances must choose between life and death, you realize that the movies Arseny Gonchukov are deeper than you expected. They are about the fact that almost every one of us, probably not even knowing it, constantly forced to solve complex existential question: how to be yourself and do the right thing, all the time when life throws up irresolvable situations. "
Sergey Kudryavtsev, film expert.
"Arseny Gonchukov lives, thinks, breathes, writes, shoots films separately from other. He has his own way in art, his own "mission". Arseny makes films for a pittance, and, for his own pittance, but it is - real, high-quality, professional cinema. His presence in the contemporary Russian cinema - a living reproach, and even challenge for the current system of state cinema with its huge budget, the inevitable setbacks, deliberately planned financial failures of 90 percent the shooting films. Arseny`s life is not easy, he is a screenwriter for himself, director, property man, promoter, rigger and porter. But, on the one hand, his films does not serve the government, on the other - not indulge ordinary tastes of the crowd. It his personal copyrighted statement consistently sincere and honest. And sometimes unusually shrill as in the case with the movie "1210."
Leonid Pavlyuchik, film critic.
"Primarily the will affects in the Arseny`s movies, his own will to shoot a movie that he wants. If there is the slightest opportunity to shoot - he will do it with a deep understanding of what it is a professional, real movie. This will is aimed at the being closer to the reality in which we live to see uninvented people who surround us.
It portrays a society in disintegration time, the society in which decays natural human communication. Society so atomized that even good character suddenly commit terrible acts. Yet his films have some dark mystery, that distinguishes the real artist. The mystery present at a level of some important feeling at the viewer's perception. And I think the name Arseny soon become very prominent in the Russian cinema."
Alexey Medvedev, film critic, program director of a certain film festivals.
What is important in this film? The main character cannot forgive himself for the fate of the mother and her death. And as he cannot forgive himself, he cannot forgive anyone. He has lost this ability – to forgive. His love, without the ability to forgive becomes damnation ... What else is important? That he may die before death, long before his death. And then, after that, he should live and even be happy- it's unbearable. Is the main character mad? I do not know. He is not entirely crazy; he has a distortion in his brains. Also he is not a madman, just his soul is broken, broken as a stick. That's all.