Experiencing Interruptions?

Duel

The story of two twin brothers, different in character and view of life. The first one, a successful programmer and uncompromising liberal, returns from abroad to Russia after grandmother's death. The other, a stubborn patriot and foreman at a construction site, is forced to put up with his brother in their shared apartment. He goes through a divorce, watches the Duel talk show in the evenings, and as well as his liberal brother, wants to forget their fierce quarrel after the "Crimean spring". The brothers, who even at that time "banned" each other and broke all ties, at first try to improve relations. But their principled positions prevent them from letting bygones be bygones.

  • Timur Dubro
    Director
  • Peter Smirnov
    Writer
  • Timur Dubro
    Writer
  • Natalia Kopchenova
    Producer
  • Aleksandr Krotov
    Producer
  • Timur Dubro
    Producer
  • Grigory Tatarenko
    Key Cast
    "Michael"
  • Pavel Tatarenko
    Key Cast
    "Aleksandr"
  • Anastasia Zabirova
    Key Cast
    "Tatiana"
  • Tatiana Rasskazova
    Key Cast
    "Tatiana’s Mother"
  • Yuri Tarasov
    Key Cast
    "Taxi Driver"
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Поединок
  • Project Type:
    Feature, Short, Student
  • Runtime:
    29 minutes 58 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    February 21, 2021
  • Country of Origin:
    Russian Federation
  • Country of Filming:
    Russian Federation
  • Language:
    Russian
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    Yes - SPbGIKiT
  • Alternative Territory of Cinema
    St.Petersburg
    December 28, 2020
    Best Directors Work
  • 11th PUNE SHORT FILM FESTIVAL 2021
    Maharashtra
    Official Selection
  • Western Gate International Film Festival
    Pskov
    July 22, 2021
    Official Selection
  • KinoLes Film Festival
    St.Petersburg
    August 28, 2021
    Official Selection
  • Standalone Film Festival & Awards
    Los-Angeles
    August 10, 2021
    Nominee for best cinematography
  • Serbest International Film Festival
    Kishinev
    Moldova, Republic of
    Semi-finalist
  • Goa Short Film Festival
    Goa
    India
    Official Selection
  • Best Shorts Competition
    La Jolla
    United States
    Award of Excellence: Film Short (Student) Award of Excellence: Dramatic Impact (Student).
  • Art Film Fest
    Kosice
    Slovakia
    Official Selection
  • FotoFilm Short Film Festival
    Istanbul
    August 22, 2022
    Official selection
  • VI International Russian Film Festivsl
    Moscow
    September 28, 2022
    Officisl Selection
  • 3rd Live Screenings International Film Festival
    Tbilisi
    September 16, 2022
    Official Selection
Director Biography - Timur Dubro

Timur Dubro was born in Leningrad (USSR) in 1982. At the end of 1990-s he studied Journalism in the State University, by the begin of 2000-s worked as a journalist and editor in different city magazines (offline and online). At 2003-2005 studied in Theatre Academy for cultural management, also worked on city theatre festivals as an administrator, was a producer of Potudan Theatre. Since 2006 – directing and editing videos for city studios, tv and freelance. Directed 4 short documentaries, also few music video for local artists. 2014-2020 studied movie directing in SPbGIKiT, Duel – is a diploma project.

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Director Statement

After the annexation of Crimea to Russia in 2014, the country was split into two camps by means of television propaganda: TV watchers and Internet users, quilted jackets and "liberalists", conservatives and progressives. Similar splits of society between traditionalists and modernizers often occurred in different countries, and we know many such examples in history, unfortunately, up to civil wars, when the split occurs simultaneously in many families, and literally brother goes against brother, son against father... We have been observing similar phenomena in Russian society since 2014, when the polarization of society on the issue of Crimea became extremely acute. Those who are used to watching official television believe every word of television speakers, and do not accept any criticism. Those who are used to thinking more critically and rationally, from the progressive camp, are not inferior to their opponents in principle and stubbornness. Position against position, principle against principle, retreat is impossible. In the movie our heroes are forced to go to the end, in the heat of the fight, without thinking about the possible consequences. They become like the participants of the Duel talk show, and the open final leaves the viewer a field for reflection, who is right and who is guilty, and on whose side the truth is - the viewer must decide.