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Tohu Wa-Bohu

«TOHU & WA-BOHU» - A breathtaking and evoking the most non-trivial feelings video art project about pain and compassion, about liberation and catharsis. Mental automatism that is expressed in the movie is the real functioning of thought beyond any control from the mind, aesthetic or moral boundaries.
Two audio-visual portrayals implementing two scenes from the script for the short film "Emptiness and Chaos" (the film adaptation of the full film is scheduled for 2025). Filming took place on the outskirts of Tomsk, Russia in mid-August 2023.

Produced & Directed by Matthew S. Krivolapov
Music by "Anoice"

Actress - Elina Bazaeva
Prod. Designer - Vladislav Vasiliev
2nd Dir. - Yulia Reshetnikova
Director's AC and translator - Sofia Kareva

DOP - Darya Chaschina
2nd cameraman - Alexander Linok
3d cameraman - Roman Rybalko
Gaffer - Sergey Marchuk
Sound operator - Maksim Aksenov
1st photographer - Saveliy Petrushev
2nd photographer - Snezhana Shiman
3d photographer - Sofia Kareva

Stylist - Polina Tarasova
Makeup artist - Natela Tkhilaishvili
Graphic artist - Nikita Bauer

Tech. helper - Ravil Davlyatshin (Ellit.pro org., Tomsk)

Tomsk, RF ‘23

  • Matthew Krivolapov
    Director
  • Matthew Sergeevich Krivolapov
    Writer
  • Elina Muratovna Bazaeva
    Key Cast
  • Vladislav Vasilev
    Production designer
  • Project Type:
    Experimental, Short, Student
  • Genres:
    Video art, Drama
  • Runtime:
    9 minutes 7 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    October 14, 2023
  • Production Budget:
    100 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Russian Federation
  • Country of Filming:
    Russian Federation
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    Yes - St. Petersburg Institute of Cinema and Television
  • Accolade Global Film Competition
    La Jolla, CA
    United States
    March 5, 2024
    Online
    Experimantal (student) & Young filmmaker
  • Robinson Film Awards
    Online
    April 1, 2024
    Best Experimental Short
  • Amsterdam Lift-Off Film Festival
    Amsterdam
    Netherlands
    October 1, 2024
    Offline
    Short Live Action Narratives
  • Rome Prisma Film Awards
    Rome
    Italy
    June 6, 2024
    Online
    Best Experimental Film
  • Golden Earth Film Award
    Dallas, Texas
    United States
    March 25, 2024
    Online
    Best Experimental Film (Main Category)
Director Biography - Matthew Krivolapov

An 19-year-old director from Siberia, Russia, specializing in fiction and experimental films.

Studied at the Film school of the Higher School of Journalism of Tomsk State University for 4 years, and in the St. Petersburg Institute of Cinema and Television then, I was awarded 8 times and mainly for the experimental works.
Specializing in dramas and experimental formats, I create films that are distinguished by their cinematography and unique dramaturgy. Drawing inspiration from childhood memories and the works of contemporary artists, It turns out to create the latest cinema. Then I became a student of Macromedia University in Berlin and that was my first step into an international film industry.

Mostly, the audience emphasizes the cinematography of the frame and the influence of the audio sequence on the perception of the film, so it is important to me to look for new approaches to expressing thoughts beyond any aesthetic and moral boundaries, to look for new genres and ways of self-expression.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

I made this movie when, after a long time, I was able to feel myself free. During a period of one year a lot of people that were close to me were leaving or cutting our relationships off. This made me suffer from difficult social addictions. The only character of the movie goes through the same experience, which is reflected through the physical obstacles. Her addiction and unfreedom is Wa-Bohu, where she tears up every circumstance that put her in such position. In Tohu she comes to an absolute harmony and catharsis.

Being a viewer interested in films of different genres and different modern directors, I formed for myself the image of a strong woman capable of overcoming severe pain. The method of creating abstract emotionally-filled audiovisual “paintings" in the center of a narrative plot was inspired by the works of A. Tarkovsky and Lars Von Trier.

Elina Bazaeva, the performer of the main role, participated in the production of the movie for the first time. The result of her hard work in rehearsals and the filming itself amazed even the most experienced viewer, because Elina coped with the role perfectly.

This film helped me release the emotions that were stuck in my body. By transferring my feelings to audiovisual work, I shared my experience with the viewer and gave him the opportunity to undergo a number of difficult emotions during watching my movie.

The task of creating the Tohu Wa-Bohu film in the context of the video art genre is to switch the roles of me as an author with the viewer. As a result, I am building a construct of aesthetic space as a communication situation in which the viewer-interpreter finds himself, creatively reading a moving image. The narrative turns out to be blurred, and the processual nature of the viewer's perception comes to the fore. Thus, the film takes the viewer out of a state of passivity and sets him up for a critical mode of perception. It is this type of perception of a media source that is in excessive demand in the 21st century, when the amount of audiovisual information fosters in recipients a passive, trivial reading of information, without living a sensory experience.