Representations of Contemporary Cultural Challenges in Russian Cinema (Based on the Short Film Genre)

Abstract

The article presents the analysis of the short films included in the competition program of the 28th ‘Kinotavr’ Open Festival of Russian Cinema in 2017. Young Russian cinema is almost entirely concerned with the present, which is everywhere: in the filmmakers’ age; in the cinematic themes, which, as a rule, avoids the past; in a new accelerating tempo; and in the grappling with the challenges of modern culture. In the films we explore here, modernity is complicated, uncertain, unpredictable, and full of new risks. The directors offer different strategies for dealing with the challenges: absurdization, mythologization, open-ended aesthetics.


 


 


Keywords: short film, modernity, uncertainty, unpredictability, human-made risks

References
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