Meistersinger – The Sound of Russia

All the members of the Russian „Society of Amateur Canary Bird Singing“ are men. They belong to different social groups and come from all over the country. One cold winter day, they arrive in Moscow, unified only in the burning desire to win the annual contest.
They have been training their students – exclusively male too – for a whole year. Only the male bird of the species „serinus canaria canaria“ is able to produce the admirable heavenly tunes. It is a rigid men’s world, as most women in Russia unfortunately are completely busy with their daily chores and they have no time to care about these „real essentials of life“.
A film full of pathos and humour, about an outstanding bond between men and birds, exploring Russian society and a passionate confrontation of genders.

Details

Country of Production
Germany

Year of Production
2003

Format
Digi Beta Pal, Beta SP Pal

Length
59 min

Director
Ekaterina Eremenko

Production
ma.ja.de. filmproduktion in co-production with ZDF in association with ARTE and YLE TEEMA

Original Language
Russian, Ukrainian, English

Subtitles
English

Festivals / Awards

IDFA 2003 (Silver Wolf Competition)
Russian National Award LAVR (Branch of Laurel) for Best Debut 2003
Nomination for Prix Europa 2004 / category TV Non-Fiction
Thessaloniki IDF 2004
Belgrade Documentary and Short FF 2004
St. Anna Festival for Student and Debut Film Moscow 2004 (Special Prize from the Union of Cinematographers of Russia)
Norwegian Short FF Grimstad 2004
Auckland IFF 2004
Wellington IFF 2004
Tver Int. Reality Film and Television Festival MovieEye 2004
Human Being and Nature FF Irkutsk 2004
Zagreb IFF 2004
Margaret Mead Film and Video Festival New York 2004
Red Shift FF New York 2005
Festival 21 Vienna 2005
Internationales Frauenfilmfestival Dortmund 2007