Hit pix wow in Moscow

 Posted on October 1, 2024  |  4 minutes  |  761 words  |  Larita Shotwell

Special jury prize goes to Brock for 'Driving Lessons'

MOSCOW — Commercial fare found favor at the Moscow Film Fest, which wrapped July 2, while arthouse pics went home empty-handed.

The special jury prize went to debut Brit helmer Jeremy Brock, for “Driving Lessons,” which also garnered the Russian critics’ jury award and audience prize, as well as the actress honor for Julie Walters.

Top Gold St. George prize went to Swedish pic “About Sara” from Uganda-born debut helmer Othman Karim.

Actor prize went to Jens Hanzer for his role in German pic “Running on Empty” by Bulent Akinci, also a debut, while Gallic vet Bertrand Blier took director for “How Much Do You Love Me?”

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Overall, results had critics repeating that the event — this year conveniently headquartered in central Moscow’s Oktyabr multiplex — had again failed to find a convincing image for itself, despite the change in festival selectors.

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Many competish pics had been released in other countries long before their Moscow screenings.

Lack of Russian product in main programs — despite a boom year for local production in both commercial and arthouse strands — looked gaping, making it clear the territory’s helmers are aiming toward other international fests rather than allying themselves with Moscow.

Many top Russian directors and producers didn’t bother to attend, limiting chances for fest networking.

With Russia one of the world’s fastest-growing exhib markets, lack of big players at the fest and the lack of a market are shortcomings the fest must overcome.

Two gala premieres repping local product were unimpressive. “Festival” from Vasily Pichul (“Little Vera”) should have hit some local buttons — pic is a musical based around intrigues at a perestroika-era Moscow film fest, but despite some comic moments, auds were departing the latenight screening (delayed by an hour) in the early reels.

The other gala, Yury Cara’s 1994 adaptation of Mikhail Bulgakov’s novel “Master and Margarita,” finally saw the light of day after 12 years’ dispute with pic’s producer. Screening had an unprecedented level of piracy surveillance for Russia, but despite performances from some leading local thesps, Russia’s pirates are likely to leave Cara’s pic alone.

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