Gorod usnul

In Deep Sleep
It begins with a serious allegation: Victor is accused of having beaten a mechanic to death on a boat where he worked as a sailor. From there on in, the film follows the course of events that might have led to this happening over three chapters. After his girlfriend dies in an accident, Victor leaves the ship and returns to shore. Gradually his perception begins to shift and what was already a cold, forbidding world through and through appears to be becoming an all-encompassing realm of the dead where everyone and everything lies sleeping. Maria Ignatenko tells the story of what led up to a murder without invoking direct causalities. Everything is strangely in limbo here; we see things without being certain what exactly it was that we saw. Inside and outside merge into a frozen intermediate space that is neither one thing nor the other and shows the world from a different, abnormal perspective. Gorod usnul is silent and insistent, free-floating without any trace of levity, and thus creates a cinematographic world of loss.
by Maria Ignatenko
with Vadik Korolyov, Dmitry Kubasov, Lyudmila Duplyakina, Galina Lebedinets, Vasilisa Zemskova
Russian Federation 2020 Russian 71’ Colour

With

  • Vadik Korolyov (Victor)
  • Dmitry Kubasov (Dmitry)
  • Lyudmila Duplyakina (Nika)
  • Galina Lebedinets (Victor's mother)
  • Vasilisa Zemskova (Nika's friend)

Crew

Written and Directed by Maria Ignatenko
Cinematography Veronika Solovyova
Editing Maria Ignatenko
Music Oqjav
Sound Design Roman Kurochkin
Sound Roman Kurochkin
Production Design Lyudmila Duplyakina
Costumes Lyudmila Duplyakina
Make-Up Vera Baratova
Casting Maria Ignatenko
Producers Katerina Mikhaylova, Konstantin Fam
Executive Producer Lyudmila Duplyakina

Maria Ignatenko

Born in Moscow in 1986. She graduated with a degree in Journalism. Ignatenko then studied Film Directing at the Moscow School of New Cinema, where she has been teaching Film Directing since 2018. Gorod usnul is her first feature film.

Filmography

2015 Yuha; 29 min.

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2020