Screening Room:
Blue
"Незнакомец" / "The Stranger"
A mysterious stranger comes to celebrate the New Year, who for some reason is well known to all the family members except Alexey, who is the father. Step by step, the stranger begins to behave like the head of the family, which does not bother anyone except Alexey. The father tries to throw out the intrusive guest, but the whole family is already on the stranger's side.
Statement
The Stranger is a New Year’s parable about freedom and democracy in Russia. It allegorically reflects on the events and trends that have brought the country to its current state: the complete absence of freedom of speech, authoritarianism, the war with Ukraine, and global isolation. This film invites us to reconsider our actions and reflect on where we went down the wrong path — and, more importantly, to understand what must be done to ensure that such a scenario never happens again.
Cast and Crew
Director - Vasilii Sergeev, Screenwriters - Vasilii Sergeev and Sergey Pelipas, Producers - Vasilii Sergeev and Denis Babichev, D.O.P. - Nikita Nesterenko. Cast: Yuriy Volkov, Konstantin Kuleshov, Marina Boyko, Olga Blagaya, Darya Fahretdinova, Mark Seslyukov