GERDA
Russia, 2021 / 111 min / OV Russia with EN subt. / Drama
In view of the current events in Ukraine, the Luxembourg City Film Festival has decided, in agreement with the Government and the City of Luxembourg, to withdraw the Russian film GERDA by Natalya Kudryashova from the Official Competition, as well as the following Russian films for Young Audiences: BLANKET by Marina Moshkova, LE ROI ET LA POIRE by Nastia Voronina, CORNSTALK by Anastasia Zhakulina. Tickets for GERDA will be reimbursed, the programs for young audiences containing these works will be adapted.
The amazing story of Gerda, young student in sociology in Russia works as a strip dancer by night. Her mother is a sleepwalker who believes in miracles, and her violent father just left the family for another woman. And also, a spirit keeps visiting her dreams.
"My story is about the “metaphysical space” we live in, which is far deeper than the world we see around us. It’s about how people have always, and still do, search for themselves in this space." - Director’s statement, Natalya Kudryashova
"Set in the turbulent, harsh social reality of contemporary Russia… the filmmaker studies her characters and their painful existence in a manner that carries metaphysical resonance.” - Arun Kumar, High on Films, 10/08/2021
“Gerda is a deeply captivating film that never tells us too much, while rarely obscuring its intentions.” - Matthew Joseph Jenner, ICS (International Cinephile Society) 12/08/2021
- Best Actress, Locarno IFF, 2021 (Switzerland)
Born in Gorki – now Nizhny Novgorod – in the Soviet Union in 1978, Natalya Kudryashova studied acting at the Nizhegorodsky Theatre School before taking a Directing Course with Anatoly Vasiliev at the School of Dramatic Art in Moscow. Since 2001 she has appeared as an actress in numerous theatre productions in Moscow and is a well-known actress in Russia. Her feature PIONEER HEROES (2015) was selected at the Berlinale and Goteborg festivals. Her latest film, GERDA (2021), was selected at the Locarno Film Festival
- 2021 – Gerda
- 2015 – Pionner Heroes (Berlinale Panorama)
- 2012 – Liza’s morning (court-métrage / short film / Kurzfilm)
- 2011 – The Freeze (court-métrage / short film / Kurzfilm)