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Lithuania the twilight of the Gods short documentary film, 2007.

Ritual of White Night  short documentary film,2003

Official screening in Detroit Docs 2003

(New!) trailer(Windows media)

Synopsis

This film is about an unique "Gothic "band from old port town of northern Russia--"Moon  Far Away". Leader of the group Count Ash says that so-called "Gothic subculture " is the remains of mystic musical consciousness of Europe. Ash tells his encounter with "Gothic", about the relationship of "Paganism"and Christianity in Orthodox Church of northern Russia, while the camera shows the group's concert in summer solstice of 2002. In this short film, the author continued to develop the theme of "musical creation and religiousness of human being ", which had been mentioned in the last part of his previous work "KISMET".

Stills from the films "KISMET"and "Ritual of White Night"

KISMET  feature documentary film    

 trailer (You need real player) 

Synopsis

The film is made of 3 parts, each part tells about musical groups in different countries or cities. All tree parts are connected by a journey of the author  "I"and his relationship with musicians, whose creation are took usually as "sub culture" or "alternative music" etc.

 In part1: Calls from the Past, the author remembers musicians in Russia, who collaborated with him in making short films in Moscow in 1998-99. In June of 2002 the author visited again Russia and met a composer Anton Brejestovski and his ensemble "Caprice", which became fairy famous abroad by the album "Elvenmusic" inspired by the world of elves described by J.R.R. Tolkien and other people. When the author arrives Moscow, the ensemble is just preparing for a concert, where Anton's new works must be performed. Anton's day job as an English teacher, his idealistic attitude to art and music, and the theme of totalitarianism in music, which strongly attracts him—all these elements are illustrated by images and sounds of contemporary Moscow and the ensemble's musical practice.

 Part2: Now and Here describes a group of improvisers in Tokyo, EXIAS-J (Experimental Improviser's Association of Japan). In December 2001 they composed and recorded 3 "tone poems", inspired by 3 short films of the author. This part tells how this association of improvisers was founded, where they usually perform music and why they are attracted by so-called free improvisation. As a guide to this unknown world in Tokyo, an American women flute player Emyu, working there long time and participating in free improvise sessions in their home club "Good Man", tells about her encounter with Japanese improvisers. Then young members of EXIAS-J tells their views to music, perform 3 tone poems in a recording studio, theater and in one concert in a Buddhist temple.

In Part3:Music and Visions , the author=narrator return from his past with EXIAS-J and continues his travel in Russia. He goes to the north port town Arkhangelisk, where famous "Gothic" group "Moon Far Away" is just to hold a midnight concert on the opening day of city art festival, at the summer solstice. The leader of this enigmatic group, Count Ash tells his credo in their creation, while the camera shows their ritual-like performance in the Museum of Fine Arts in the city.Count Ash asked the author to give their last album to Japanese group "Jack or Jive", which Ash knows only by their music and with which the author acquainted only recently. Travel to the city Himeji, where they constantly live, interview with them and their unique voice performance in Tokyo concert this year are included in the last episode.

INTERVIEW

Japanese film director Shusei Nishi has just finished work on his new documentary film" KISMET", a part of which was shot by the author in Arhangel'sk in June of this year during the art-festival Art 21 century. For this purpose he has done a long journey from Japan. The graduate of VGIK, the director has devoted the new work to the Russian and Japanese friends-musicians -- chamber ensemble CAPRICE from Moscow, Arhangel'sk’s Gothic group MOON FAR AWAY, and the fellow countrymen JACK OR JIVE and EXIAS-J. The word kismet in Turkish means destination or fate', by this polysemantic term the author characterizes the meeting with creation of these musical collectives. In creating the film Shusei Nisi has refused a film-format in which his previous works were shot, successfully past on some international festivals 

It is my second completed film on video, - tells Shusei, - my first experience with this format, "The Flower of harmony", was also a documentary. For me video is convenient means for momentary shooting of things that very strongly influences me, or means for an economical embodiment of complex audio visual images based on especially personal perception. Means to fix facts and imaginations at the same time, their synthesis on the higher level. Documentary film as a genre of author's cinema can use these two specifics at the same time, so the creation with video in this field is ideal. 

- Main constituting element of the film is the story about the Russian Gothic groups MOON FAR AWAY and CAPRICE, as well as Japanese classic of this stream JACK OR JIVE. What kind of role in your life has so-called Gothic subculture played? Why is it interesting to you? 

- Once I have casually visited the Russian Gothic portal in the Internet, and then I have already noticed, that there are many things that had attracted me strongly before ? northern romantic Caspar David Friedrich, verses of Russian symbolists. And it seems to me that present so-called Gothic subculture, in its best representatives, inherits tradition of symbolism in a general sense. I was affected with symbolical art at all, and those elements which were　interesting to me in a present gothic style, in music, fine arts or the cinema, all of them exist in symbolism : the underlined sharp feeling of the form and beauty, a distance in relation to everyday life, search for Divinity (bogoiskatel'stvo) through the creative act, tragic sense in front of spiritual cataclysm. 

What has affected your choice of these musicians for the film? Why they have participated in it? 

- I can’t say that they have taken part in my film, it was I who have a little interfered with their life. I looked for, not only as the cinematographer, but also as a simple man wishing understand the secret and meaning of Creative act, intuitively chose for film the most unselfish Creators of the most sublime art-- Music. But only from those, acquaintance with which is designed, it seemed to me so, by destiny. Certainly, it does not mean, that between us there is an identical understanding this destiny. 

We encountered at the necessary moment, for me it was so, and not only for the shooting of the film: in my life meeting with authors of good works of art played and plays an important role. They can be the dead as Bach, Tarkovsky, Kurosawa and Friedrih, can be alive as ensemble CAPRICE from Moscow and MOON FAR AWAY from Arkhangel’sk

(IZVESTIYA” Arkhangel'sk, August 27, 2002) 

reviews(English)

Interview and review (Russian)

more about the author(Russian)