The Student

Uchenik

In contemporary Russia, high-school student Veniamin has developed an
addictive relationship with the Holy Scriptures, obsessively reading and
re-reading the Bible, which he interprets with a fundamentalist literalness.
He rejects his agnostic upbringing in favour of a choke-hold on the Bible.
It all begins when he protests the school’s swimwear policy, which results in
the principal’s decision to ban bikinis in favour of more modest suits. The
further Venya descends into the depths of religious extremism, the more he
acts out at school, exposing a deep-seated bias towards conservatism in the
administration.
Perhaps no modern phenomenon is more divisive than religious fanaticism.
In that context, director Serebrennikov recently said: “Religion always
comes with pain and trauma. Originally, religion was love, but it doesn’t
work in our life, in our world. Now, religion is a point of aggressive misunderstanding
of different nations and countries. It is a point of terrorism, of
separation. It’s terrible.”

  • Year:
    2016
  • Runtime:
    118 min
  • Country:
    Russia
  • Director:
    Kirill Serebrennikov
  • Screenplay:
    Kirill Serebrennikov, Marius von Mayenburg
  • Dir. of Photography:
    Vladislav Opelyants
  • Music:
    Ilya Demutsky
  • Editor:
    Yury Karikh
  • Cast:
    Victoria Isakova, Petr Skvortsov, Julia Aug
  • Production:
    Hype Film
  • Sales:
    Wide Management
  • Festivals:
    Cannes 2016, Brussels 2016, Munich 2016, Karlovy Vary 2016, London 2016, Chicago 2016

Schedule:

11.11.2016 20:15 Kino Mladosť
12.11.2016 19:30 Kino Nostalgia

About the Director:

Kirill Serebrennikov

Kirill Serebrennikov (1969, Rostov–on–Don. USSR) graduated from Rostov State University with majors in physics in 1992 and had no formal theatre education prior to his stage directorial debut in 1994. He has staged drama productions in Moscow Art Theatre, Latvian National Theatre, and State Theatre of Nations as well as opera productions for the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg and the Bolshoi Theatre. He is one of the most talented theatre and film directors of modern Russia. His films have been screened at film festivals in Cannes, Locarno and Rome where he won Golden Marc Aurelio Award in 2006 for his comedy, Playing the Victim.