RUSFILM verleih

The Orchard

Russia, 96 min, colour, 35 mm

Director Sergey Ovcharov

Sreenwriter Sergey Ovcharov

Cinematographer Ivan Bagayev

Music Andrey Sigle

Producer Andrey Sig

Spring, 1904. The estate of Lyubov Andreyevna Ranevskaya. The heart of the estate is the blossoming, fragrant cherry orchard, which must be chopped down soon. The estate has already been sold to pay off debts. The owner

of the orchard and her daughter Anna arrive from Paris to bid farewell to their family nest. The makers of the film return a comic element to this classic piece. The genre of this version of The Cherry Orchard is heartrending eccentricity: a bubbling mixture of Italian comedia del arte and vaudeville. High Chekhovian comedy seen through the prism of silent film, its subtle psychological aspects is balanced with the heady tones of mischief, which were put in the work by the author himself. On the day when the orchard – their love and pain – is sold, they have

a dance and a genuinely good time. They are all, masters and servants alike, destitute, but the thought of big money manipulates their consciousness like a skilled puppet-master with comic marionettes.

Sergey Ovcharov

Born on April 29, 1955 in Rostov-on-Don. Screenwriter, flm director. Graduated from the Moscow Culture Institute (G. Roshal’s studio) in 1976 and from the Higher Director and Screenwriter courses at USSR Goskino in 1979,

through G. Panflov’s studio. Winner of many international and Russian flm festivals. Directed flms at Lenflm Studios. Professor at the St. Petersburg State University of Cinema and TV, teaches animation workshops, computer

graphics and fction flm. Awarded the title of Honored Artist of Russia (1994).

Filmography

1979 – Neskladukha;

1983 – Nebyvalshchina;

1986 – Lefty;

1989 – Ono;

1992 – Drumroll;

1999 – Feats of Heracles;

Pharaoh; 2000 – Russian Dreams

2001 – The Tale of Fedot, the Shooter;

2008 – The Orchard

RUSFILM, Gbr