BAMcinématek presents Of Freaks and Men: The Films of Aleksei Balabanov, the first US retrospective of the late Russian filmmaker, Dec 3 10 Part of TransCultural Express: American and Russian Arts Today, a partnership with the Mikhail Prokhorov Fund to promote cultural exchange between American and Russian artists and audiences The Wall Street Journal is the title sponsor for BAM Rose Cinemas and BAMcinématek. Brooklyn, NY/Nov 8, 2013 From Tuesday, December 3 through Tuesday, December 10, BAMcinématek presents Of Freaks and Men: The Films of Aleksei Balabanov, the first complete US retrospective of the acclaimed Russian filmmaker. Arguably the most radical, defiantly uncompromising Russian director to emerge since the collapse of communism, Aleksei Balabanov, who died suddenly this year at age 54, captured the Wild West atmosphere of the post-soviet era in movies that oozed with caustic irony, macabre humor, and outré violence. Moving between offbeat experimental works and more mainstream, but equally personal, genre films, Balabanov already a cult sensation in Russia is ripe for discovery. Of Freaks and Men is part of TransCultural Express: American and Russian Arts Today, a collaborative venture to promote cultural exchange and the Mikhail Prokhorov Fund s inaugural artistic alliance with a US performing arts institution. For more information on TransCultural Express, download the program press release. Opening the series on December 3 Balabanov s first two features: his narrative debut Happy Days (1991 Dec 3), a reimagining of the Samuel Beckett play, and The Castle (1994 Dec 3), an adaptation of Kafka s unfinished novel. An official selection of Un Certain Regard at Cannes, Happy Days follows a man through a string of surreal encounters after his release from the hospital, all in striking black and white cinematography by frequent Balabanov collaborator Sergey Astakhov. Balabanov s sophomore feature, The Castle further revealed his interest in absurdism with a bizarre, inventive interpretation of Kafka s parable of existentialism and bureaucracy. Screening Wednesday, December 4 is Of Freaks and Men (1998 Dec 4 + 5), Balabanov s dark comedy about the invasion of pornography in early-1900s St. Petersburg. Hailed as a witty, inventive exercise of historical imagination and cinematic style (Stephen Holden, The New York Times), the film garnered two Nika Awards (Russia s Oscar) for Best Film and Best Director. Happy Days, The Castle, and Of Freaks and Men have never been released on video in the US and will be presented in rare 35mm screenings for this series. In 1997, Balabanov s Brother (Dec 7) became his first breakout hit and an instant commercial success in Russia. Drawing comparisons to Martin Scorsese s Goodfellas and the James Bond franchise, the film exposes the crime rings, poverty, and rebellious youth of the post-soviet era with grimy detail and Balabanov s signature caustic satire. Brother became Russia s highest grossing film that year, managing to be both commercial and a comment on commercialism not only a highly entertaining genre film but a political statement as well imagining, even as it warns against, the strong man s return (J. Hoberman). Brother spawned Brother 2 (2000 Dec 7), a defiantly nationalistic sequel set in Chicago, and cemented Balabanov s powerful voice in the Russian New Wave.
The self-proclaimed anti-establishment rock n roller of Russian film became known for his unflinching perspective of corruption in his post-soviet homeland, through both dark comedies and grisly crime dramas. Highlights of Balabanov s work in the 2000s include Dead Man s Bluff (2005 Dec 6), a bloodsoaked action comedy with Tarantino-esque wit; Cargo 200 (2007 Dec 6), a nightmarish thriller based on a true story; Morphia (2008 Dec 5), a deliciously funny and graphically gory take on Mikhail Bulgakov s Notes of a Young Doctor (David Jenkins, Time Out NY); and The Stoker (2010 Dec 8), a nihilistic comedy set to a bossa nova soundtrack. Balabanov s final film, Me Too (2012 Dec 8), made its US premiere in BAMcinématek s Russian Cinema Now series in June. A comedic, Kaurismäki-esque take on Tarkovsky s tour-de-force sci-fi epic Stalker (1979), the film is a disarmingly deadpan and deceptively ambitious blend of black comedy, crime, and metaphysics (Neil Young, The Hollywood Reporter) synthesizing in one film the many things that Balabanov did best. Press screenings to be announced. For press information, please contact Lisa Thomas at 718.724.8023 / lthomas@bam.org Hannah Thomas at 718.724.8002 / hthomas@bam.org Film Schedule Tue, Dec 3 4:30, 9:30pm: Happy Days 7pm: The Castle Wed, Dec 4 4:30pm: Of Freaks and Men Thu, Dec 5 4:30, 9:30pm: Morphia 7pm: Of Freaks and Men Fri, Dec 6 2, 7pm: Dead Man s Bluff 4:30, 9:30pm: Cargo 200 Sat, Dec 7 2, 7pm: Brother 4:30, 9:30pm: Brother 2 Sun, Dec 8 2pm: Trofim + The River 4, 8:30pm: Me Too 6pm: The Stoker Mon, Dec 9 4:30pm: Trofim + The River Tue, Dec 10 4:30, 9:30pm: It Doesn t Hurt Me 7pm: War Film Descriptions Brother (1997) 99min
With Sergey Bodrov Jr. After being released from the army, music-obsessed Danila (Bodrov Jr.) heads to St. Petersburg in search of his older brother, who swiftly inducts him into a violent criminal underworld. Taking to his new job as a hit man like a duck to water, Danila is part thug, part avenging angel a criminal with a halfformed conscience who lives by his own primitive code of ethics. Balabanov s terrifically stylish (The New York Times) breakout commercial hit was an enormous success in Russia, capturing the sick soul of post-soviet youth in grimy detail. 35mm. Sat, Dec 7 at 2, 7pm Brother 2 (2000) 122min With Sergey Bodrov Jr. Balabanov cranked the action up to 11 for this adrenaline-fueled, bathed-in-blood sequel to his mega hit Brother. This time around, baby-faced, armed-to-the-teeth hit man Danila (Bodrov Jr.) heads to Chicago to avenge the death of an old army buddy knocked off by mobsters. Defiantly nationalistic and caustically anti-western, Brother 2 is the radical Russian New Wave answer to the Hollywood blockbuster. 35mm. Sat, Dec 7 at 4:30, 9:30pm Cargo 200 (2007) 89min With Agniya Kuznetsova, Alexey Poluyan. Like The Texas Chain Saw Massacre transposed to 1980s USSR, Balabanov s Rotterdam Film Festival prize-winning ultra-nightmare Cargo 200 based, chillingly, on a real incident is a grim, sickly funny horror-show commentary on the Soviet era. In the gloomy industrial wasteland of Leninsk, a motley group of strangers stumble upon a remote bootlegger s cabin. What ensues is an utterly horrifying display of depravity perpetrated by a sadistic police captain (Poluyan). Strong, and completely riveting stuff. 35mm. Fri, Dec 6 at 4:30, 9:30pm The Castle (1994) 120min With Nikolay Stotskiy, Svetlana Pismichenko, and Viktor Sukhorukov. Balabanov offers this characteristically eccentric take on Kafka s unfinished novel, which tells the absurdist allegory of a land surveyor (Stotskiy) who attempts to infiltrate the seemingly impregnable, highly bureaucratic castle that exerts a palpable influence on his everyday existence. The director s second feature is a swirl of surrealistic imagery with a distinctly Bruegel-influenced aesthetic, featuring a score by the pioneering experimental cult musician Sergey Kuryokhin. 35mm. Tue, Dec 3 at 7pm Dead Man s Bluff (2005) 111min With Alexei Panin, Dmitry Dyuzhev. Balabanov reportedly spilled 50 liters of fake blood for this action comedy joyride about two hoodlum brothers (Panin and Dyuzhev) scrambling to recover a suitcase full of heroine. Set in the gritty mean streets of the lawless 1990s, Dead Man s Bluff is a giddy Tarantino-esque mix of splatter and snappy dialogue, featuring ingenious cameos by more than 20 Russian movie stars all incognito! 35mm. Fri, Dec 6 at 2, 7pm Happy Days (1991) 86min With Viktor Sukhorukov. Shot in grainy, expressive black and white, Balabanov s striking narrative debut is a freewheeling, disorienting head-trip adaptation of Samuel Beckett s absurdist stage work. Just released from the hospital where he received a mysterious brain operation, an unidentified man (Sukhorukov) roams the streets of St. Petersburg in search of a place to stay, encountering a panoply of hostile weirdos and bizarre situations along the way. 35mm. Tue, Dec 3 at 4:30, 9:30pm It Doesn t Hurt Me (2006) 101min With Renata Litvinova, Aleksandr Yatsenko. After establishing a reputation for gonzo gangster thrillers, Balabanov took a surprising detour into romantic drama with this poignant, offbeat character study about a young building developer (Yatsenko)
and an eccentric woman who is dying of leukemia (Litvinova) and trying to conceal it. Set amid the tumult of 1990s St. Petersburg, It Doesn t Hurt Me reveals Balabanov s gentler, but no less idiosyncratic, side. 35mm. Tue, Dec 10 at 4:30, 9:30pm Me Too (2012) 83min With Yurii Matveev, Alexander Mosin, Oleg Garkusha, Alisa Shitikova Tarkovsky meets Kaurismäki in this dark, deadpan riff on the revered filmmaker s 1979 sci-fi film Stalker. A ragtag gaggle of thugs, punk rockers, and societal outcasts embark on a pilgrimage to a mystical Bell Tower of Happiness in search of enlightenment. As intoxicatingly uncompromised and bracingly direct as a treble of straight Stolichnaya..." (The Hollywood Reporter). DCP. Sun, Dec 8 at 4, 8:30pm Morphia (2008) 110min With Leonid Bichevin, Ingeborga Dapkūnaitė. In 1917, young medic Mikhail (Bichevin) arrives at a remote rural village to begin his practice but quickly succumbs to a crippling morphine addiction, as the Bolshevik Revolution rages on in the background. Based on Mikhail Bulgakov s short story collection A Country Doctor's Notebook, Morphia is Balabanov s hellish, savagely funny vision of societal and personal breakdown rendered in remarkable period detail. 35mm. Thu, Dec 5 at 4:30, 9:30pm Of Freaks and Men (1998) 93min With Sergey Makovetskiy, Dinara Drukarova. In this perverse and fascinating black comedy set in turn-of-the-century St. Petersburg, a pair of ruthless, sinister pornographers overturn the lives of two families, exploiting them sexually and emotionally. Beautifully shot in aged-looking sepia tones, this unsettling, eccentric fable uses alcoholic Siamese twins, kinky housemaids, and Victorian-era S&M to chronicle the invasion of modernity on Russian life. A sustained off-color joke directed with high visual style. The New York Times 35mm. Wed, Dec 4 at 4:30pm Thu, Dec 5 at 7pm The River (2002) 50min With Tujaara Svinoboeva. Left unfinished after the sudden death of its lead actress, The River is a fascinating, fragmented blend of fiction and ethnography set in a remote Siberian community. After being expelled from her village for stealing, a mother (Svinoboeva) takes refuge in a leper colony in the desolate Arctic region of Yakutia. But jealousy soon wrenches this tiny band of outcasts apart. This tale of passion and betrayal is unique in Balabanov s filmography for its haunting, almost folkloric quality. 35mm. Screens with Trofim (1996) 25min Part of Arrival of a Train, a four-part omnibus that pays tribute to the 100 th anniversary of the the Lumière brothers landmark film Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat, the gorgeously lensed, sepia-soaked Trofim is simultaneously a Dostoyevskian tale of passionate crime and punishment, a valentine to early films and an exhilarating display of the talent of the Russian director (The New York Times). Betacam. Sun, Dec 8 at 2pm Mon, Dec 9 at 4:30pm The Stoker (2010) 87min With Mikhail Skryabin. Deep in the bowels of a seedy, decaying St. Petersburg, Ivan (Skryabin), a Siberian Yakut and Afghan war veteran, patiently tends to his fiery furnace, quietly looking the other way while local mobsters deliver fresh corpses for incineration. Balabanov s blackest of black comedies shot in defiantly grubby video, teeming with blunt nudity and violence, and set to an ironically breezy bossa nova soundtrack forges a distinct blend of the sneeringly nihilistic and unsettlingly hilarious. DCP. Sun, Dec 8 at 6pm
War (2002) 120min With Aleksey Chadov, Ian Kelly. Set against the backdrop of the Second Chechen War, this gritty and gripping action drama follows a young Russian soldier (Chadov) and a British actor (Kelly) both just released from a Chechen slave camp who venture back into enemy territory on a seemingly doomed mission to retrieve the hostages they left behind. Laced with grim irony, Balabanov s unabashedly nationalistic, unsparing look at the brutalities of war has the structure, and tension, of a classical Western. 35mm Tue, Dec 10 at 7pm About BAMcinématek The four-screen BAM Rose Cinemas (BRC) opened in 1998 to offer Brooklyn audiences alternative and independent films that might not play in the borough otherwise, making BAM the only performing arts center in the country with two mainstage theaters and a multiplex cinema. In July 1999, beginning with a series celebrating the work of Spike Lee, BAMcinématek was born as Brooklyn s only daily, year-round repertory film program. BAMcinématek presents new and rarely seen contemporary films, classics, work by local artists, and festivals of films from around the world, often with special appearances by directors, actors, and other guests. BAMcinématek has not only presented major retrospectives by major filmmakers such as Michelangelo Antonioni, Manoel de Oliveira, Shohei Imamura, Vincente Minnelli (winning a National Film Critics Circle Award prize for the retrospective), Kaneto Shindo, Luchino Visconti,, but it has also introduced New York audiences to contemporary artists such as Pedro Costa and Apichatpong Weerasethakul. In addition, BAMcinématek programmed the first US retrospectives of directors Arnaud Desplechin, Nicolas Winding Refn, Hong Sang-soo, and, most recently, Andrzej Zulawski. From 2006 to 2008, BAMcinématek partnered with the Sundance Institute and in June 2009 launched BAMcinemaFest, a 16-day festival of new independent films and repertory favorites with 15 NY feature film premieres; the fifth annual BAMcinemaFest will run from June 19 28, 2013. About TransCultural Express A collaborative artistic venture between BAM and the Mikhail Prokhorov Fund, TransCultural Express focuses on cultural exchange between the US and Russia and marks the Prokhorov Fund s inaugural artistic alliance with a US cultural institution. Since its inception, TransCultural Express has rolled out a rich assortment of literary, film, and performing arts, including Russian artist Irina Korina s first US installation, screening Andrei Tarkovsky s Nostalghia to celebrate its 30th anniversary, a contemporary Russian film series Russian Cinema Now, an Eat, Drink & Be Literary event with Masha Gessen and Keith Gessen, and performances by Philadelphia-based hip-hop dance company Illstyle and Peace Productions in two Siberian cities. About the Mikhail Prokhorov Fund The Mikhail Prokhorov Fund is a private charity launched in 2004 by the businessman Mikhail Prokhorov and his sister, Irina Prokhorova. The Foundation s priority is the support and development of new cultural institutions and initiatives in Russia, with a focus on regional projects as well as the promotion of Russian culture in the global intellectual community. The Foundation s activity takes many forms. It is a creative laboratory developing new cultural initiatives, a school nurturing Russia s next generation of artists and entrepreneurs, and a playground for socioeconomic development, all the while combining in its work a few defining characteristics: enlightenment, education, and charity. Visit www.prokhorovfund.com for more information. Credits The Wall Street Journal is the title sponsor of BAM Rose Cinemas and BAMcinématek. Steinberg Screen at the BAM Harvey Theater is made possible by The Joseph S. and Diane H. Steinberg Charitable Trust. Leadership support for Of Freaks and Men: The Films of Aleksei Balabanov made possible by the Mikhail Prokhorov Fund as part of TransCultural Express: American and Russian Arts Today. Pepsi is the official beverage of BAM. Brooklyn Brewery is the preferred beer of BAMcinématek. BAM Rose Cinemas are named in recognition of a major gift in honor of Jonathan F.P. and Diana Calthorpe Rose. BAM Rose Cinemas would also like to acknowledge the generous support of The Peter Jay Sharp Foundation, The Estate of Richard B. Fisher, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, Brooklyn Delegation of the New York City
Council, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, New York State Council on the Arts, Bloomberg, and Time Warner Inc. Additional support for BAMcinématek is provided by the Coolidge Corner Theatre Foundation, The Grodzins Fund, The Liman Foundation and Summit Rock Advisors. Leadership support for Of Freaks and Men: The Films of Aleksei Balabanov made possible by the Mikhail Prokhorov Fund as part of TransCultural Express: American and Russian Arts Today. Additional thanks to: Raisa Fomina & Evgeniya Blaze/Intercinema Art Agency; Gary Palmucci/Kino Lorber. General Information Tickets: General Admission: $13 BAM Cinema Club Members: $8, BAM Cinema Club Movie Moguls: Free Seniors & Students (25 and under with a valid ID, Mon Thu): $9 Bargain matinees (Mon Thu before 5pm & Fri Sun before 3pm no holidays): $9 BAM Howard Gilman Opera House, BAM Rose Cinemas, and BAMcafé are located in the Peter Jay Sharp building at 30 Lafayette Avenue (between St Felix Street and Ashland Place) in the Fort Greene neighborhood of Brooklyn. BAM Harvey Theater is located two blocks from the main building at 651 Fulton Street (between Ashland and Rockwell Places). Both locations house Greenlight Bookstore at BAM kiosks. BAM Fisher, located at 321 Ashland Place, is the newest addition to the BAM campus and houses the Judith and Alan Fishman Space and Rita K. Hillman Studio. BAM Rose Cinemas is Brooklyn s only movie house dedicated to first-run independent and foreign film and repertory programming. BAMcafé, operated by Great Performances, is open for dining prior to BAM Howard Gilman Opera House evening performances. BAMcafé also features an eclectic mix of spoken word and live music for BAMcafé Live on select Friday and Saturday nights with a special BAMcafé Live menu available starting at 8pm. Subway: Train: Bus: Car: 2, 3, 4, 5, Q, B to Atlantic Avenue Barclays Center (2, 3, 4, 5 to Nevins St for Harvey Theater) D, N, R to Pacific Street; G to Fulton Street; C to Lafayette Avenue Long Island Railroad to Atlantic Terminal Barclays Center B25, B26, B41, B45, B52, B63, B67 all stop within three blocks of BAM Commercial parking lots are located adjacent to BAM For ticket and BAMbus information, call BAM Ticket Services at 718.636.4100, or visit BAM.org.