“Therefore remove sorrow from your heart,
And put away evil from your flesh,
For childhood and youth are vanity.”

Spectacle and UnionDocs partner again to observe the start of autumn with the second entry of KOSTROV’S SEASONS, a recurring series spotlighting Russian experimental documentarian Vadim Kostrov’s growing corpus of diaristic and meditative work. In the interim between last June’s introductory mini-retrospective and Kostrov’s stunning array of winter films later on, we are drawing special attention to FALL, one of the three completed works in the filmmaker’s seasons tetralogy and his last feature before leaving his home in protest of the invasion of Ukraine.

Straying from the beaming, youthful, and dialogue-driven conceits of SUMMER (2021), Kostrov’s FALL marks an ambivalent crossfade in tempo and tone for a return to Nizhny Tagil through the eyes of 10-year-old flaneur Vadik (reprised by Vova Karetin) as he wanders amongst the colossal scale of billowing smoke stacks, housing blocks, and humming sunsets. The patient exploration of Kostrov’s autobiographical stand-in eventually highlights the city’s historical contribution to Russia’s war machine. This realization and the absence of the previous entry’s supporting cast of characters suffuse FALL with a far more lonely and worrisome quality, paradoxically rendered in calm, sumptuous fashion by Kostrov’s ever-developing talent for composing enrapturing miniDV landscapes that are as celestial as they are lo-fi.

The filmmaker will discuss the film during a remote Q&A following the screenings on September 5th and 23rd.

Presented in partnership with UnionDocs Center for Documentary Art. Special Thanks to Vadim Kostrov, Jenny Miller, and Mal de Mer Films.

FILM PROGRAM

BIOS

Vadim Kostrov shot his first feature-length documentary film Cherdak-Underground on VHS, telling the story of the Russian underground of the 1980s and 1990s. Returning regularly to the Urals, Vadim created Summer (2020), Winter (2021), and the documentary trilogy Narodnaya. Summer received a special jury mention at Sheffield Doc/Fest 2021, while his earlier work Orpheus (2019) was presented in the competition at FIDMarseille then the film was shown At RIDM (Montreal), Mar Del Plata international film festival and won Best Film at Black Canvas (Mexico City). In October 2021 the trilogy Narodanya (Narodnaya, After Narodnaya, Comet) premiered at Heart Beat Section at the 19th edition of Doclisboa as well as Winter which was shown in the International competition there. In March 2022 retrospective of Vadim’s films took place at FICUNAM (Mexico City) with Vadim Kostrov presenting 7 titles in person(Orpheus, Summer, Winter, Loft-Underground, Narodnaya, After Narodnaya, Comet) resulting in18 screenings, and 3 films (Orpheus, Summer, Winter) were presented online on MUBI.