ALMATY INDIE FILM FESTIVAL
Terra
Overview
In 2012 the production at the Bovanenkovo gas field on the Yamal Peninsula, a remote section of Siberia, had begun. The industrial zone had been located right on the historical migration route of the indigenous reindeer herders- Nenets. Now they wade through the industrial zone to get the summer pastures.
Director Biography — Julia Kushnarenko
Julia Kushnarenko was born in Moscow and studied directing at the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography. She has completed courses at Moscow’s Scream School in visual effects compositing. She works not only as a documentary director, but also as a cinematographer and an editor. Julia is fascinated by exploring characters in all their contradictions. In 2017 Julia with Veronika Sher founded International Dance Short Film Festival BODYSCOPE.
Director Statement
In summer of 2016 I accidentally ended up on the Yamal Peninsula. I went there as an assistant photographer and videographer. Initially, we had to stay there for only two weeks, but eventually plans of our expedition changed, and we roamed with the Nenets for two months.
For us the biggest challenge was to become a part of this small community. During the year, many journalists and photographers come to reindeer herders to capture their lives. But most of the observations show reindeer herders as savages. This attitude offends Nenets, so they are becoming increasingly closed in dealing with strangers. It was important for me to immerse myself in their life and culture, to look at their way of life from within and feeling this passion of constant roaming. We tried to be on an equal footing with the Nenets helping them on household matters in order to avoid the guest's role in their eyes, for which they need to take care all the time.
During a long observation of Nenets life, it became clear to me that Nenets's internal conflict against the modern civilization is quite the burning issue. Nenets try to protect their culture and their way of life, but on the other hand they are not ready to detach themselves from the outside world. They want to go into it. Nenets have been trapped, not only between the two periods, but between two philosophies that tear their small community from the inside. And this happens not only with the Nenets culture, most of the native people worldwide are facing this issue too. Almost all the northern nomadic people are faced with a choice to be assimilated and move to settled life in cities or continue traditions of their nomadic ancestors. Such a resettlement of reindeer herders to settlements has already occurred.
Credits
- Director
- Julia Kushnarenko
- Writer
- Julia Kushnarenko
- Producer
- Julia Kushnarenko
- Producer
- Maxim Arbugaev
- Sound director
- Yulia Reiman
- Compozer
- Roman Bezborodov
- Compozer
- Misha Mishenko
- Sales Agent
- Alisa Stolyarova
- Translator
- Philippa Mullins
Specifications
- Original title
- Земля
- Project type
- Documentary
- Runtime
- 30 minutes
- Completion date
- February 2, 2019
- Production budget
- 13,400 USD
- Country of origin
- Russian Federation
- Countries of filming
- Russian Federation
- Language
- Russian
- Shooting format
- Digital
- Aspect ratio
- 16:9
- Film color
- Color
- First-time filmmaker
- Yes
- Student project
- No
- Digital Cinema Package
- Unavailable
Awards & Festivals
ETHNOCINECA
Vein
Austria
May 26, 2019
IFF Ekotopfilm - Envirofilm
Bratislava
Slovakia
May 30, 2019
Intimate Lens Ethnographic Film Festival
Caserta
Italy
MovieStan
Saudi Arabia
IDFF CRONOGRAF
Chisinau
Moldova, Republic of
May 22, 2019
Golden Raven International Arctic Film Festival
Anadyr
Russian Federation
May 20, 2019
Best Short Documentary Award
International Nature Film Festival Gödöllő
Gödöllő
Hungary
May 24, 2019
Kinokavkaz
Nalchik
Russian Federation
May 16, 2019
The Best Documentary film
Weengushk International Film Festival
Canada
July 12, 2019
Official selection
Melgaço International Documentary Festival
Portugal
July 31, 2019
Jean Loup Passek Award: BEST INTERNATIONAL SHORT OR MEDIUM LENGTH FILM
OrtometraggiFilmFestival
Puglia
Italy
June 12, 2019
Official Selection
Quetzalcoatl Indigenous International Film Festival
Mexico
July 2, 2019
Best Quetzalcoatl International Short Film
International Festival of Ethnological Film
Belgrade
Serbia
Weengushk International Film Festival
Canada
July 15, 2019
Rural Filmfest
Rural Filmfest
Spain
August 10, 2019
Best Quetzalcoatl International Short Film
«People and Environment» International film festival
Irkutsk
Russian Federation
September 19, 2019
Official Selection