Kirill Kulagin

Funk star Shawn Lee arrives in Moscow. He has only one night to realize a crazy project: he must, with the help of a local group of funk The Soul Surfers, design ex-nihilo and record a piece of music thanks to an old recording device sound dating from the Soviet era, which miraculously survived in a local of a car factory in ruins.

The documentary project The Term was conceived in May 2012. When the directing trio commenced mapping the Russian sociopolitical landscape, Vladimir Putin had just settled into the Kremlin for his third term. The original experimental format of “documentary bulletins,” which were published daily online, allowed for wide-ranging content; in the feature film version, however, the filmmakers focused solely on the members of various opposition groups. Nevertheless, the work’s neutral position remains and viewers have to interpret the objectively presented situations for themselves. The main characteristics of this strongly authentic movie include close contact with the protagonists, precise editing, and an effectively controlled release of information.

Uzbek youth confess their dreams, take flight, and negotiate the reality around them. Directed by Kirill Kulagin. In this documentary directed by Kirill Kulagin, Uzbek teenagers share their innermost dreams. And rather than talk of only fantasies, these dreams unearth the reality these youth face and how they negotiate with it. In Central Asia, talking about oneself can seem impolite. From an outsider perspective, emotions in this culture are only spoken about indirectly, lest they “air [their] dirty laundry in public.” But talking about dreams can break through this social barrier. For the film, Kulagin ran filmmaking labs with Uzbek youth to explore their real stories and real feelings surrounding dreams. These dreams served as jumping-off points to discuss deeper fears and desires, which turned into metaphors and a visual language based on how they navigated the boundaries of intimacy.

Without a doubt, Willem Dafoe really likes his gappy teeth.