Maria Guskova’s acclaimed short ‘The Return of Erkin’, winner of the prestigious Cannes Cinéfondation award, is featuring in the Short Cuts section at the Toronto International Film Festival with the support of ROSKINO.

‘The Return of Erkin’ (28 min.) is Maria Guskova’s graduation project at the High Courses for Scriptwriters and Film Directors, class of Irakli Kvirikadze and Andrey Dobrovolsky.

The film tells the story of a man named Erkin who is trying to get back to normal life after his release from prison. But everything has changed and he does not know if he can live as a free man.

The drama is produced by Maria Guskova, Rinat Muslimov and Denis Guskov, acting also as the director of photography. The entire cast is non-professional, with Kakhramonjon Mamasaliev in the lead role. In fact, none of the actors has ever read the script: each role and episode was discussed with the director immediately before the filming, thus avoiding the risk of machinelike repetitions and helping the characters to interact and relate to each other on the screen.

Maria Guskova, film director: ‘The making of ‘The Return of Erkin’ was an obstacle race for me, with a handful of external and internal problems to overcome. But finally I am happy to have made a film that is received so well by the public. I am truly grateful to all those who have inspired and supported me: my teachers, my school and my entire team. Most importantly, we appreciate ROSKINO’s informational and financial support in the promotion of our film, and we are happy to share our success with all of you’.

Katya Mtsitouridze, ROSKINO CEO: 'I am happy to extend a cooperation stated at Cannes several months ago. 'The Return of Erkin' is one of the best shorts of the past few years and I think the director is mature for a feature film. Unlike many others, Maria knows her reason for working in filmmaking perfectly well. I hope a visit to Toronto will become an important milestone for her not only as far as the recognition of her present achievements is concerned but also for the purposes of getting a lager creative and professional perspective. She has a lot of things to see and a lot of people to meet. Admirably, our friend Cameron Bailey, the TIFF Artistic Director, keeps on inviting Russian films in spite of the controversial situation. And we will keep supporting all those who invent new cinema worlds to put up real bridges. Cinema is the art of the possible as much as politics.'

It is the first time that a Russian title is included into the TIFF Midnight Madness section featuring the best new action, horror, sci-fi and fantasy films. The world premiere of Ilya Naishuller’s ‘Hardcore’, a Timur Bekmambetov production starring Danila Kozlovsky, is going to be held at TIFF.

The Masters section showcases Alexander Sokurov’s ‘Francofonia’, a French-German-Dutch co-production fresh from the Venice main competition premiere. The film is set in the occupied Paris of 1940, telling the story of the rescue of the Louvre treasures. The plot is centered around the pivotal figure of Jacques Jaujard, the legendary director of the French museum.

ROSKINO – RUSSIAN CINEMA JOINT STAND

The ROSKINO – RUSSIAN CINEMA joint TIFF stand presents the updated catalogue of the DOORS International Travelling Film Market.

The main goal of the film market is to facilitate international promotion of Russian cinema, stimulate the international distributors’ interest towards Russian content  and support world industry professionals in establishing fruitful contacts with Russian filmmakers and media professionals.

Russian films produced and released in 2013-2015 featuring in the DOORS traveling film market catalogue, TIFF edition

Another Year, directed by Oxana Bychkova

Ask Me, directed by Vera Kharybina

Atomic Ivan, directed by Vasily Barkhatov

Battalion, directed by Dmitry Meskhiev

Battle for Sevastopol, directed by Sergey Mokritskiy

Betrayal, directed by Kirill Serebrennikov

Break Loose, directed by Alexey Uchitel

Celestial Camel, directed by Yuri Feting

The Chekhov Brothers, directed by Mikhail Ugarov

Combat Boots, directed by Katya Shagalova

Corrections Class, directed by Ivan Tverdovskiy

Game of Truth, directed by Victor Shamirov

The Hope Factory, directed by Natalia Meschaninova

The Role, directed by Konstantin Lopushanskiy

Rudolf Nureyev: Rebellious Demon, directed by Tatyana Malova

Savva, directed by Maxim Fadeev,

Shopping Tour, directed by Mikhail Brashinsky

Soulless 2, directed by Roman Prygunov

The latest additions to the catalogue are two TALAN Film projects, ‘The Find’ by Victor Dement and ‘Earthly Eden’ by Aleksandr Proshkin.

The ROSKINO – RUSSIAN CINEMA stand presents the following production and distribution companies:

ALFA – BETA FILMS

AMETHYST FILM

ART EXPRESS LLC

ART PICTURES

A VVIS AND KINOLITPROS

BAZELEVS

CENTRAL PARTNERSHIP

CINE FANTOM

CORNER WORK

CTB FILM COMPANY

DUTY-FREE PRODUCTIONS

FIRST CREATIVE UNION

GOSFILMOFOND OF RUSSIA

GLUKOZA PRODUCTION

LIFE IN CINEMA COMPANY
LIGA PRODUCTION
LOOK FILM

LENFILM

MULTILAND LTD.

METRAFILMS

NEW PEOPLE FILM COMPANY

NIKOLAI RASTORGUEV PRODUCING  COMPANY
PASSENGER FILM STUDIO

PLANETA INFORM GROUP OF COMPANIES

PRODUCING CENTER VGIK - DEBUT
PROLINE FILM

REAL DAKOTA

ROCK FILMS

RUSSIAN WORLD VISION
RWS

SCHOOL-STUDIO “SHAR”

SLON

SVERDLOVSK FILM STUDIOS

SVOY POCHERK COMPANY

STAR MEDIA GROUP
STELLA CREATIVE STUDIO
TALAN FILM COMPANY

TELESTO-FILM COMPANY

VSE HOROSHO

WIZART ANIMATION

2PLAN2

Maria Guskova was born in 1982. She graduated from the department of Philology at the Moscow State University in 2006 and later started her training in filmmaking in Sweden. She continued her professional education at the High Courses of Scriptwriting and Film Directing in Moscow, Russia. In 2011 Maria attended Tonino Guerra’s workshop in Pennabilli, Italy, and in 2012 she participated in Mark Travis’s ‘Technique for Directing Actors’ workshop.

Filmography:

‘Neighbour’, 2011, documentary short

‘The Return of Erkin’, 2015, short

The Return of Erkin festivals and awards:

Cinéfondation 3rd prize, Cannes International Film Festival, 2015

Special Jury Award, Kinotavr Film Festival, 2015

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ROSKINO is the only Russian state institution promoting Russian cinema internationally.

Since its foundation in 1924 ROSKINO facilitates the integration of the Russian filmmakers into the world industry. In 2014 the company celebrated its 90th anniversary.

The company promotes Russian cinema at major film festivals (Cannes, Venice, Berlin and Toronto), markets (AFM in Los Angeles, EFM in Berlin, Marché du FIlm and MIPCOM in Cannes), and awards (The Oscars, Golden Globes, EFA Awards). It supports distribution of Russian cinema and solicits international investments and co-production partnerships.

One of the most prominent initiatives of ROSKINO is the DOORS international traveling film market that allows the company to present national cinema at various markets around the world.

Since 2012 ROSKINO operates the Russian Film Commission USA based in Los Angeles.

In 2014 ROSKINO launches a London office, ROSKINO-UK.

In October, 2014 ROSKINO organized the Saint Petersburg International Media Forum, a high profile event uniting three types of content markets dealing with film, TV and new media that generated a considerable attention in the national and international media industry.

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Katya Mtsitouridze is head of ROSKINO, Channel One film expert, Variety Russia Editor-in-Chief, SPIMF concept developer and general producer.

Katya graduated from the Tbilisi State University with an MA in history and film studies.

She is the author and narrator of This Is Cinema, a regular show on Russia’s Channel One.

She is ROSKINO CEO since 2011.

Her portfolio includes diplomas of the film festivals in Cannes and Venice and the AFM market in LA.

In June, 2001, she was a member of the FIPRESCI jury at the 23rd Moscow International Film Festival.

In May, 2002, she was a member of the FIPRESCI jury at the 55th Cannes International Film Festival.

In June, 2003, Katya was on the jury for debut films at the 25th Moscow International Film Festival.

In May, 2008, she was a member of the jury of the Un Certain Regard section of the 61th Cannes International Film Festival.

In the same 2008, she initiated the creation of the Russian Pavilion at the Cannes Film Festival which she presently is still heading. 

From September, 2010 to January, 2011 Katya provided PR support in US and Canada for The Edge (Krai), a film by Alexey Uchitel, which was nominated for Best Foreign Film at the HFPA Golden Globe awards.

In September, 2011 she was in charge of the international PR and advertising campaign of Alexander Sokurov’s Faust which won the Golden Lion at the Venice International Film Festival.

In June, 2012 she held the first DOORS International Traveling Film Market of Russian content within the framework of the 34th Moscow International Film Festival.

In November, 2012, Katya reached an agreement with HULU, one of the leading US digital platforms, for the VOD release of 12 contemporary Russian titles.

In May, 2014 she reached a further agreement for the distribution of CTC Media TV Content through HULU platforms.

In October 2014 Katya held the first edition of the Saint Petersburg International Media Forum of which she was the concept developer and general producer.

Katya is a member of FIPRESCI, the Russian Filmmakers’ Union, the Russian and International Unions of Journalists, the National Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences of Russia. She also holds an MA in History.