Crossing the Line
The film depicts a day in a psychoanalyst’s life. His patients come in turn; their stories reveal the protagonist’s past.
From the film’s opening frame, we know the day is going to end up in a rather violent or even tragic way.
Only at the finale do we understand what has really happened and what’s going on.
The film but few shots takes place in a confined space, the psychoanalyst’s office.
Le film décrit une journée dans la vie d’un psychanalyste. Ses patients viennent à tour de rôle; leurs histoires révèlent le passé du protagoniste.
Dès le début du film, nous savons que la journée se terminera de manière violente, voire tragique.
Ce n’est que lors de la finale que nous comprenons ce qui s’est réellement passé et ce qui se passe.
Le film sauf quelques plans ont été tournés dans un espace confiné, le bureau du psychanalyste.
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Anar AzimovDirector
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Anar AzimovWriter
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Anar AzimovProducer
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Sergey DetyukKey Cast
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Iryna LukashovaKey Cast
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Vadim KuzloKey Cast
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Elena MyroshnychenkoKey Cast
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Artem VilbikKey Cast
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Elena NovikovaKey Cast
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Wladimir BurkowskiiKey Cast
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Kateryna KotovaKey Cast
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Oleg WengerKey Cast
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Volodymyr RohovenkoKey Cast
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Galyna SviataKey Cast
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Sergey PolyakovKey Cast
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Ivan KovalskiyKey Cast
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Liubov TyshchenkoKey Cast
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Oleksandr NykonovychCinematographer
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Vladyslav DonchenkoSound Designer
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Anar AzimovMusic
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Oksana LazarevaSet Dresser
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Yana GatsenkoMake-up
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Nelli GutsenkoMake-up
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Galyna SalnikovaMake-up
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Nadejda LobanCasting
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Konstantin PolyakovEditor and Colourist
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Project Type:Experimental, Feature, Television
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Genres:Drama, Arthouse, Thriller, Mystery
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Runtime:1 hour 26 minutes 23 seconds
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Completion Date:October 29, 2018
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Production Budget:21,200 USD
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Country of Origin:Ukraine
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Country of Filming:Ukraine
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Language:Russian
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Shooting Format:Digital
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Aspect Ratio:16:9
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Film Color:Color
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First-time Filmmaker:No
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Student Project:No
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Filmfest BremenBremen
Germany
September 22, 2019
World premiere
Official selection/Nomination for Innovation Prize -
Bucovina International Film FestivalChernivtsi
Ukraine
October 19, 2019
National premiere
Original idea/script /Коронація Слова -
Chicago Arthouse Television AwardsChicago
United States
November 19, 2019
Federico Fellini Award nomination for best feature film
Distribution Information
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Philippe Louis GallianoSales Agent
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MY Spotlight IndependentDistributor
Born in 1969. PhD in Philosophy (1995). British Council Playwright Course graduate (1999). Alexander Sokurov’s Film Directing online course graduate (2021).
This film started from a character, the lift man, invented by my wife.
Isn’t the psychoanalyst’s room as a lift with patients as passengers?
The action almost entirely takes place in the room, which is the protagonist’s brain projection. Each piece of the set such as photos bears some meaning to illustrate the plot.
There are common filming ways to form viewers’ impression of a dream. However, I didn’t want viewers to realise it early; at the same time, I wanted them to be prepared to the finale as it’s found out the protagonist is in coma, and the action is what he is dreaming about. Therefore, I wanted to find a filming style neither too realist nor directly dream-like. This is the reason why the set looks somewhat like a stage. The patients appear and disappear: we never see them come and go.
I developed frame sequences and shooting styles to illustrate every patient’s story and make it visually different from others‘. For example, the camera comes closer to a character as long as we realise a relatively adult woman hides behind a mask of a young TV star while the shot is changing from a tv style towards a cinema format; in contrast, the camera moves away from a character while she’s trying to forget her past; hand-held camera is used to show some characters’ nervous breakdown; etc.
“Crossing the line” means going over the boundary between patients and the psychoanalyst. It also means breaking the cinematographic 180-rule to show how the protagonist becomes a patient himself and “changes sides” with his visitors. The same rule at the end shows his wife speaks to him while he’s in coma; she doesn’t know if he hears her.
It’s been a difficult project to me as the budget only was 22,000$. So, the crew was very small with myself running all the logistics, shooting photos for the set etc; the cinematographer acting as the gaffer; and so on.