Angelina NIKONOVA Ангелина НИКОНОВА Anguelina NIKONOVA   Russia, 2011, 105 mn  Colour, fiction

Twilight Portrait ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ Портрет в сумерках    Portrait au crépuscule  Portret v symerkakh

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Plot synopsis

Finding herself in the wrong place at the wrong time, Marina is sucked into a whirlpool of dramatic events. The humiliation and pain she suffered have changed the course of her stable and safe life. Marina is looking for opportunities to avenge. Day after day she returns to the suburb where a fateful meeting has taken place. When she manages to track down the instigator of the crime, she decides not to use the banal weapon of revenge. Marina resorts to the professional skills of a psychologist, who dexterously manipulates the cruel character of the offender.

 

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Commentaries and bibliography

Angelina Nikonova, Twilight Portrait (Portret v sumerkakh, 2011), Marcia LANDY, kinokultura.com, 2011

 

Director's Statement : When I read the first draft of the script written by Olga Dihovichnaya, the main heroine was much older, in her forties. Andrey’s part was written for a young bully in his early twenties. Overall the story was much harsher and darker. It was a true punch in the audience’s groin. I like well-written and performed dramas, but even I felt that the story had to be lightened up a bit. It needed some air, some ambiguity. I participated in writing of the script mainly as a friend, since Olga was going to direct the film. When Olga changed her mind and offered me to direct it, I immediately realized that she was the perfect lead. And this is how Twilight Portrait started to get a new layer of passion between very different but equally strong, Man and a Woman. I decided I wanted to shoot the film in Rostov-on-Don. Most of the Southerners speak with a very specific accent and I realized I needed it. The Woman and the Man should sound different as well. I almost casted the young lead for Andrey’s part when I came across a real militiaman, Sergey Borisov… That’s when all the puzzle parts fit fell into place. I finally had the “perfect couple”. Olga managed to nail in her story the true nature of the most disturbing phenomenon in contemporary society – indifference. I was amazed at the honesty of the story’s atmosphere. That is why I chose certain technique in making of the film. It was important for me to accentuate the authenticity of it all. I involved mostly non-actors. We used photo cameras Cannon Mark II to shoot the story. I chose to use two cameras that always worked simultaneously from different spots. Therefore most of the dialogues bear natural reactions of the actors. I challenged the DOP and the cameraman not to use lights at all – only natural lighting. It was hardest to work that way during the night scenes that take place inside the car, but we managed. I challenged Olga not to use any make up on the set. And she was brave enough to reject hair and make-up artists’ help. We sometimes re-wrote dialogues on set if I felt the words were alien to an actor – we found another way of saying the line – it was important for me that the lines fit perfectly into their mouths

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Selected in the following festivals :

- Strasbourg two weeks of Russian cinema, Strasbourg (France), 2013

- Festival du film russe à Quimperlé, Quimperlé (France), 2013

- Days of Russian cinema, Aix les Bains (France), 2013

- Film Festival Black Movie, Genova (Switzerland), 2013

- Russian film symposium. University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh (USA), 2013

- Sydney Film Festival, Sydney (Australia), 2012

- Brussels Film Festival, Brussels (Belgium), 2012

- Sarajevo Film Festival, Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina), 2012

- Vancouver International Film Festival, Vancouver (Canada), 2012

- Hong-Kong International Film Festival, Hong Kong (China), 2012

- Prague International Film Festival : Febiofest, Prague (Czech Republic), 2012

- Helsinki International Film Festival, Helsinki (Finland), 2012

- Europe around Europe, Paris (France), 2012

- Festival de films russes Kinorama au cinéma Royal de Biarritz, Biarritz (France), 2012

- Release in France of the film, Different cities (France), 2012-02-22

- Angers Festival Premiers Plans, Angers (France), 2012

- Les rencontres des cinémas d'Europe, Aubenas (France), 2012

- Russian Film Festival, Orléans (France), 2012

- Cinémas russes à Montauban, Montauban (France), 2012

- The Dublin International Film Festival, Dublin (Ireland), 2012

- Haifa International Film Festival, Haifa (Israel), 2012

- Festival International du film de Femmes de Salé : FIFFS, Salé (Morocco), 2012

- Rotterdam International Film Festival, Rotterdam (Netherlands), 2012

- Sputnik nad Polska, Warsaw (Poland), 2012

- Monaco Charity Film Festival, Monaco (Principality of Monaco), 2012

- International Film Festival Tarkovski, Ivanovo (Russia), 2012

- Independant European Film Festival VOICES, Vologda (Russia), 2012

- Art Film Festival, Trencin (Slovakia), 2012

- Istanbul International Film Festival, Istanbul (Turkey), 2012

- New Directors New Films, New York (USA), 2012

- New Cinema Festival, Montreal (Canada), 2011

- Toronto International Film Festival, Toronto (Canada), 2011

- Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival : PÖFF, Tallinn (Estonia), 2011

- Festival européen des Arcs, Les Arcs (France), 2011

- Honfleur Russian Film Festival, Honfleur (France), 2011

- Tbilisi International Film Festival, Tbilisi (Georgia), 2011

- FilmFestival Cottbus - Festival of East European Cinema, Cottbus (Germany), 2011

- Thessaloniki International Film Festival, Thessaloniki (Greece), 2011

- Reykjavik International Film Festival, Reykjavik (Iceland ), 2011

- Venice International Film Festival, Venice (Italy), 2011

- Sputnik nad Polska, Warsaw (Poland), 2011

- Lisbon and Estoril Film Festival, Estoril (Portugal), 2011

- Annual award of the Guild of Historians of Cinema and Film Critics, Moscow (Russia), 2011

- International Festival of Contemporary Cinema «Zavtra / 2morrow», Moscow (Russia), 2011

- International Film Festival : Pacific Meridians, Vladivostok (Russia), 2011

- Open Russian Film Festival Kinotavr, Sochi (Russia), 2011

- International Human Rights Film Festival, Moscow (Russia), 2011

- Stockholm International Film Festival, Stockholm (Sweden), 2011

- Russian Film Festival, London (United Kingdom), 2011

- The Times BFI London Film Festival, London (United Kingdom), 2011

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Photos and videos

 

PORTRAIT AU CREPUSCULE FA from REZO on Vimeo.

 

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