''Witnesses '' is a historical drama directed by

Konstantin Fam Konstantin Fam aka Costa Fam (Russian language, rus. ''Константи́н Фа́м'', born 13 July 1972, Pervomayskiy, USSR) is a Russian independent director, producer, screenwriter. His movie ''SHOES (2012 film), "Shoes"'' produced in the me ...

, consisting of three novellas "

Shoes A shoe is an item of footwear intended to protect and comfort the human foot. They are often worn with a sock. Shoes are also used as an item of decoration and fashion. The design of shoes has varied enormously through time and from culture t ...

", "Brutus" and "

Violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

", united by a common concept and dedicated to the memory of

Holocaust victims Holocaust victims were people targeted by the government of Nazi Germany based on their ethnicity, religion, political beliefs, or sexual orientation. The institutionalized practice by the Nazis of singling out and persecuting people resulted ...

. Also known as ''The Trilogy "Witnesses"''.

Concept

The aim of the project is the story of the tragic events of 1933–1945 years and a reminder to the younger generation of the tragedy with the aim of preventing it in the future.

-''This film I dedicate to the memory of their relatives who were killed or went missing during the Second World War, as well as the memory of the six million victims of the Holocaust. I wholeheartedly wish that such a tragedy does not happen again''.

A notable feature of the film is its novel structure and the fact that each of the novels had its own unique stories and history of success on film festivals. "Shoes", "Brutus" and "Violin" - all parts of the film were longlisted for the

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

for "Best Live Action Short Film" and became the winners of many Russian and international film festivals.

History of creation

In 2012 it was created the short film "

", dedicated to the memory of the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

, which was warmly welcomed by the audience and the festival was a success. The film's director

, decided to develop the idea of "unusual sight" to the Holocaust and to create a full-length film "Witnesses", which in addition to "shoes" will include two more novels - "Brutus" and "Violin". Presentation the Trilogy was held at the 66th

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

, which is also under the Short Film Corner, were shown the presentation materials to the novel "Brutus." The producer group the Trilogy includes filmmakers from Russia,

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...

, Israel and the United States. November 9 at the 34th

American Film Market The American Film Market (AFM) is a film industry event held each year in early November. Historically, more than 7,000 people attend the eight-day annual event to network and to sell, finance and acquire films. Participants come from more than ...

held a unique special pitching new projects. Film "Witnesses" with the support ROSKINO became the only Russian project, presented at the pitching. The film was created with the financial support of the Ministry for Culture of Russia, as well as private philanthropists.

"Shoes"

"Shoes" The film is the first novel of the Trilogy "Witnesses". The film is set in the 1930s-1940s and tells the story of a pair of women's shoes, which story begins in a shop window and was tragically cut short in a mass grave footwear concentration camp "

Auschwitz Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...

." In the story "Shoes" is the main character shoes - women's shoes. In the picture is not visible persons and the lack of dialogue. The entire film is accompanied by an original symphonic music. The shooting of the film took place on the territory of Belarus, Poland, Czech Republic and France. The picture was a success of the festival, both in Russia and abroad. The only Russian short film nominated for the

in 2013.

"Brutus"

Events in the film "Brutus" (from a story by Ludvik Ashkenazy) are shown through the dog's eyes. This particular view allows you to see the different human values. War, racial laws, human cruelty have separated a

German shepherd The German Shepherd or Alsatian is a German breed of working dog of medium to large size. The breed was developed by Max von Stephanitz using various traditional German herding dogs from 1899. It was originally bred as a herding dog, for he ...

by the name Brutus with his owner. From kennel it as a watchdog gets to a concentration camp, where in the process of training and

psychological manipulation Manipulation in psychology is a behavior designed to exploit, control, or otherwise influence others to one’s advantage. Definitions for the term vary in which behavior is specifically included, influenced by both culture and whether referring t ...

a harmless pet becomes a killer dog. One day Brutus is commanded to chase and kill Jewish escapees, amongst whom he encounters his former owner... There it was reported that the main role in the film can fulfill one of Hollywood actresses, do not hide their Jewish ancestry -

Mila Kunis Milena Markovna "Mila" Kunis (born August 14, 1983) is an American actress. Born in Chernivtsi and raised in Los Angeles, she began playing Jackie Burkhart on the Fox television series ''That '70s Show'' (1998–2006) at the age of 14. Since ...

and

Natalie Portman Natalie Portman (born Natalie Hershlag, he, נטע-לי הרשלג, ) is an Israeli-born American actress. She has had a prolific film career since her teenage years and has starred in various blockbusters and independent films, receiving mu ...

June 27, 2013 "Brutus" won a screenwriting pitching the 35th

Moscow International Film Festival The Moscow International Film Festival (russian: Моско́вский междунаро́дный кинофестива́ль, translit. ''Moskóvskiy myezhdunaródniy kinofyestivál''; abbreviated as MIFF) is the film festival first h ...

and received a grant from the Russian Cinematographers' Union. Of the 418 applications submitted for the competition by the selection committee of the Youth Center made the long list of 22 projects of full-length feature films and television projects and 23 short film project. Special guest and expert Pitching was

Nikita Mikhalkov Nikita Sergeyevich Mikhalkov (russian: Никита Сергеевич Михалков; born 21 October 1945) is a Soviet and Russian filmmaker, actor, and head of the Russian Cinematographers' Union. Mikhalkov is a three-time laureate of the ...

. The script for "Brutus" wrote Sergei Rachlin - the first Russian journalist, received the Association of the Hollywood Foreign Press, today - the executive secretary of the award "

Golden Globe The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...

". Film premiered at the

in June 2016.

"Violin"

World of third novel "Violin" entirely revolves around the unique musical instrument. The third story, "Violin" (from a story by Yossi Tavora) tells about the amazing violin fate, passed through all the horrors of war. The story begins in a violin workshop in Nuremberg, where at the beginning of the 20th century, was created a violin, intended as a gift to the Jewish boy, and ends with a hundred years later concert at the Wailing Wall. Film premiered as part of the competition program of the 39th

in June 2017. It is also longlisted for the

Academy Award for Live Action Short Film The Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film is an award presented at the annual Academy Awards ceremony. The award has existed, under various names, since 1957. From 1936 until 1956 there were two separate awards, "Best Short Subject, One- ...

and won the award of the name of

Vera Glagoleva Vera Vitalievna Glagoleva (russian: Вера Витальевна Глаголева; 31 January 1956 – 16 August 2017) was a Soviet and Russian actress and film director. Glagoleva was born in Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union in 1956. ...

in Sochi International Film Awards

Partners

Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia The Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia (FJCR; russian: Федерация Еврейских Общин России, ) is a Russian religious organization that unifies communities of Orthodox Judaism, mostly of Chabad Hassidic movement. It ...

The feature film about the Holocaust was withdrawn supported by the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia
/ref> *

Russian Jewish Congress The Russian Jewish Congress is a non-profit charitable fund and Russian Jewish organization. It was established in 1996 by a group of Jewish businessmen, workers and religious figures with the goal of reviving Jewish life in Russia. It unites som ...

* Chabad Odesa * Documentary Film Center * Youth Center of the Union of Cinematographers of the Russian Federation *

ROSKINO Roskino (Russian: Роскино), formerly Roskomkino (Роскомкино), is a state body representing Russian industry of audiovisual content on the international markets, a national operator for the promotion of films, series and animation a ...

References

External links

* * {{IMDb title, 6829438, Witnesses Holocaust films Russian epic films Russian war drama films 2010s Russian-language films War epic films Epic films based on actual events Rescue of Jews during the Holocaust Russian World War II films