Private Project

THAT WAS ME WHO KILLED THE OLD WOMAN

On the ship "Dostoevsky," which is heading to Valaam, the actor playing the role of a writer goes missing. The entertainment program of the ship is under threat. The ball must be held before they arrive on the holy island. But there is a solution.
The intriguing life of the ship's inhabitants is mixed with the journey of a Japanese researcher of Dostoevsky who tries to understand the depths of the writer’s works in a distant island monastery.
"I didn't kill an old woman... I killed myself" — those are Raskolnikov’s words in "Crime and Punishment." This phrase is the quintessence of the entire absurd film, where anime coexists with iconic scenes from Eisenstein's "Battleship Potemkin," and bloggers retell Dostoevsky's texts.

  • Ella Tukhareli
    Director
  • Ella Tukhareli
    Writer
  • Kamila Makarova
    Producer
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Runtime:
    51 minutes 30 seconds
  • Production Budget:
    100,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Russian Federation
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Ella Tukhareli

Ella Tukhareli is a documentary film director born in Saratov, where she graduated from the Philosophy Department of the University. She has been awarded numerous prizes in international festivals. In 2021, she founded her own film company, where she collaborates with like-minded professionals to produce movies and seeks answers to global existential questions.

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Director Statement

This film is about me and my creative failure. It was supposed to be released for the 200th anniversary of Dostoevsky in 2021, and would tell about people's love for the writer-prophet, and how relevant and important his works are to my contemporaries. However, the value of documentaries is in the fact that reality often turns out to be much more cinematic than the intended plan.
In the stagnant August heat, which did not seem to foreshadow bad weather, there was a feeling of an upcoming thunderstorm, which I felt during filming, but could not identify.
The material lay unedited for two years, until I finally understood what 2021 wanted to tell us. All the characters, ironically portrayed as "outdated" in the film are, in fact, reflections of myself. I love them all, and it's a reflection of myself, my country, and the responsibility that each of us now carries.