Gold Rush in the Russian Far East

Gold mine named after Matrosov is located in the snowy wilderness (about 400 km from Magadan).

The Sea of Okhotsk オホーツク海

… but I got the biggest impression from the sea (as always). Magadan was built on the sea shore (the Sea of Okhotsk). It has an influence on the local climate: wet air, not so cold, and weather can change very quickly. It much colder outside of Magadan: up to - 50 C.

The Sea of Okhotsk (Russian: tr. Okhotskoye More) is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean. It’s the first Russian settlement in the Far East. The Sea of Okhotsk covers 611,000 sq.mi. (1,583,000 km2). It is connected to the Sea of Japan on either side of Sakhalin: on the west through the Sakhalin Gulf and the Gulf of Tartary; on the south, through the La Pérouse Strait. With the exception of Hokkaidō, one of the Japanese home islands, the sea is surrounded on all sides by territory administered by the Russian Federation.

The Road of Bones

So that was basic idea at the beginning of shooting process. Flight from Moscow to this place (Magadan) took about 8 hours. There is no railway connection. Also possible to drive here by car, but it very long way and road could be really dangerous sometimes.

 

Russian Far East

I was making documentary as a co-director together with two German filmmakers from Cologne’s International Film School (ifs) in Russian Far East during November 2014.

Here a treatment that was written by Christian Zipfel (director of this film) before we go to Magadan and start shooting process:

Artist Statement «Time and Place»

Life goes unnoticed, and we can’t return our time. Therefore, I am motivated by a desire to fix reality. I feel the camera is the best tool to preserve the past and reflect the present. Besides filmmaking (documentary and fiction) it is a chance to immerse oneself into an unfamiliar environment and to live a different life.

The filming process gives me the opportunity to travel around the world and see life with all its variety. An interesting location is a starting point for me to develop new ideas for a movie. I am interested in the possibility of a documentary film with the highly visible subjective views of the author, when the director tells the story in the first person or he is directly involved in the events. My technique is a mixture of documentary, feature film and video art.

The film is a way to communicate with many people because this language of images is a universal language of communication. A good result for me is when many other people like to watch my films and they understand the message. I like it when everyone amongst the audience understands something special and personal. I feel that I have concluded a stage of my life when I finish a new film; and it's time to start a new one.

Anima

"Gender" (course work)

Genre: documentary / film-portrait

Duration: 8 min. 51 seconds.

2012

35 mm/PAL/16: 9/color/stereo

The main character of this film is an andrologist. She talks about how to be a man and how to be a women. She wears a leather jacket, heavy boots. She working in city polyclinic and besides she makes theatrical productions in the local club. She lives with her daughter without her husband and believes that love - is neurosis reaction and that she not affected by this.