''In Search of a Lost Paradise'' is a 2015 German-Russian documentary by Evgeniy Tsymbal and Alexander Smoljanski which tells the story of Russian artist
Valentina Kropivnitskaya and her husband, the artist
Oscar Rabin.
Aside from the biography of the artists, the film also addresses their unconventional thoughts about
twentieth-century art
Twentieth-century art—and what it became as modern art—began with modernism in the late nineteenth century.
Overview
Nineteenth-century movements of Post-Impressionism ( Les Nabis), Art Nouveau and Symbolism led to the first twentieth-century ...
. The director, Evgeny Tsymbal, one of the most internationally acclaimed contemporary Russian documentary filmmakers (
BAFTA,
FIPRESCI
The International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI, short for Fédération Internationale de la PRESse CInématographique) is an association of national organizations of professional film critics and film journalists from around the world fo ...
and 30 other awards), recounts this refugee success story of an artist who was true to her talent and never gave into the pressures of life.
''In Search of a Lost Paradise'' is the recipient of a
Nika award
The Nika Award (sometimes styled NIKA Award) is the main annual national film award in Russia, presented by the Russian Academy of Cinema Arts and Science, and seen as the national equivalent of the Oscars.
History
The award was established i ...
2016 for ''Best Documentary Feature''.
Background
In 1974, Rabin and Kropivnitskaya organized a prohibited open-air art exhibition, which was smashed by the KGB using bulldozers. The following day the event was publicized worldwide. In 1977, Oscar Rabin was placed under house arrest and shortly thereafter, the family was exiled from the USSR and stripped off their citizenship. However, this historical event forced the Soviets to change their stance regarding art.
They came to France without any money and not knowing a single word of French - they nevertheless continued pursuing their artistic passion, and gradually became famous painters.
It is a story about great talent and great love. One that shows what it is like to live in a totalitarian regime, while still trying to retain one's personal and artistic freedom, a story of people, who have created the very notion of
nonconformist art, later called The Second Russian Avant-garde; who never betrayed their artistic principles and showed how powerful a weapon nonviolent resistance can be.
Production
The pre-production started in 2008 when producer Alexander Smoljanski, who was then living in Paris, discovered that Russian painter Oscar Rabin lived next-door. After gathering more than 30 hours of interview footage, he invited Evegeniy Tsymbal to join the project which eventually was completed in summer 2015. It has since received positive reviews from critics
and was awarded ''Best Documentary'' at various international film festivals.
Awards and nominations
References
External links
Trailer ''"In Search of a Lost Paradise"''Soms-Films.com— ''Official Website''
Facebook— ''Facebook page''
Interview with producer Alexander Smoljanski (''in Russian'')
(''in Russian'')
* {{IMDb title, 4966558, In Search of a Lost Paradise
Russian biographical films
Biographical documentary films
Documentary films about painters