Official internet-portal of St. Petersburg, cultural capital of Russia
Petersburg CITY / Guide to St. Petersburg, Russiahttp://petersburgcity.com
Printed from: http://petersburgcity.com/news/culture/2005/06/30/sokurov/
Culture news, 30.06.2005 16:01

Sokurov wins grand-prix at international festival in St. Petersburg

Alexander Sokurov Alexander Sokurov's film The Sun has won the grand-prix of the 13th international Festival of Festivals in St. Petersburg.

In 2005, The Sun has been a highlight of all prestigious international festivals, said Inna Karpushina, a spokesman of the Nikolo-film studio, where the film was shot.

"Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile, Great Britain, Israel, Greece, Italy, France, Switzerland and Monaco bought distribution rights to The Sun," she said. "The studio is negotiating distribution terms with the United States, Japan, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Canada."

About 500,000 people have already seen the movie in Russia, Karpushina added.

The Sun is the third film in Sokurov's planned trilogy about the downfall of powerful leaders of the 20th century. It follows Moloch (about Hitler) and Taurus (about Lenin).

The Sun details the life of Emperor Hirohito in the days after the atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. The emperor was facing a choice: either to acknowledge his disgrace and surrender the country, or to preserve his divine status and ruin Japan. Sokurov created a sympathetic view of Hirohito, which will he hopes will be understood in Japan.

The Festival of Festivals, which opened in St. Petersburg on June 23, features movies from Russia, Lithuania, Britain, Austria, Australia, Argentina, Belgium, Poland, Denmark, Spain and France.

News source: rian.ru

(c) 2000 PetersburgCity.com
E-mail: contact@petersburgcity.com