Aleksey BALABANOV
Алексей БАЛАБАНОВ
Alekseï BALABANOV
Russia, 2002, 50mn 
fiction
reka
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Река

 

 The River

 La Rivière

Other titles : На краю земли (au bord de la terre)
 
Directed by : Aleksey BALABANOV (Алексей БАЛАБАНОВ)
Writing credits : Aleksey BALABANOV (Алексей БАЛАБАНОВ), Evert PAYAZATYAN (Эверт ПАЯЗАТЯН)
 
Cast
Vasili BORISOV (Василий БОРИСОВ)
Mariya KANAYEVA (Мария КАНАЕВА)
Mikhail SKRIABIN (Михаил СКРЯБИН)
Tuyaara SVINOBOYEVA (Туйаара СВИНОБОЕВА)
 
Cinematography : Sergey ASTAKHOV (Сергей АСТАХОВ)
Production design : Pavel PARKHOMENKO (Павел ПАРХОМЕНКО)
Sound : Maksim BELOVOLOV (Максим БЕЛОВОЛОВ)
Produced by : Sergey SELIANOV (Сергей СЕЛЬЯНОВ)
Companies : CTB
 
Sites : IMDb, Chapaev.media

Awards :
Prix spécial du jury au Festival Pacific Meridian, 2003

Plot synopsis
The end of the 19th century. A tiny colony of lepers in the isolated Yakut taiga. A healthy girl, brought there by chance, falls in love with one of the young male lepers. Soon she is bearing his child. His wife suddenly arrives from the outside world and tragedy ensues within this strange love triangle.
Adapted from a novel by Vatslav Serashevsky, the Polish writer. The shooting of the film was abandoned following a car accident in November 2000 that took the life of the lead actress Tuyaara Svinoboeva.
A year later the director edited the existing footage and provided narration for the missing scenes, creating a powerful and emotional story which now stands as a complete film in its own right.
Source : www.intercinema.ru
 

commentaries
Aleksei Balabanov, The River [Reka] (2002), Neepa MAJUMDAR, kinokultura.com, 2005
 

Selected in the following festivals or events :
- Moscow International Film Festival (MIFF), Moscow (Russia), 2021
- Europe around Europe, Paris (France), 2015
- Moscow International Film Festival (MIFF), Moscow (Russia), 2013
- Sputnik nad Polska, Warsaw (Poland), 2012
- International Film Festival of the Commonwealth Countries "Moscow Premiere", Moscow (Russia), 2008
- Moscow International Film Festival (MIFF), Moscow (Russia), 2004
- Golden Eagle awards, Moscow (Russia), 2003