directed by Kirill Serebrennikov
“Those who follow the light have only ever invented darkness”
Veniamin, a teenager in the midst of a mystical crisis, has his mother, schoolmates and entire high school turned upside down by his questions.
- Can girls go to their swimming classes in bikinis?
- Does sex education have a place in school?
- Should the theory of evolution be taught as part of the Natural Sciences?
The adults are soon overwhelmed by the certitudes of the youngster who swears only by Scripture. No one but Elena, his biology teacher, will alone challenge him on his own ground.
DRAMA DCP/HD - 2016 - RUSSIA - 119min
ORIGINAL TITLE Ученик (Uchenik)
CAST Petr Skvortsov, Victoria Isakova, Julia Aug, Aleksandr Gorchilin, Aleksandra Revenko
ORIGINAL LANGUAGE Russian
PRODUCED BY Hype Film
Russian theater and film director, TEFI television industry award laureate, competitive program award winner at Kinotavr Russian open film festival and International Rome Film Festival; since 2012 the artistic director of Gogol Center.
Kirill Serebrennikov was born in Rostov-on-Don, and finished school with a gold medal. His father was is a surgeon, and his mother – a Russian language and literature teacher. He staged his first performance during his early school years. In 1992 he graduated from Rostov State University physics department with honors. During his student years, In 2008 he formed an experimental actor-director course at the Moscow Art Theatre School. By 2012 the class had transformed into Studio Seven, which later became a Gogol Center resident. During 2011-2014 Kirill was the artistic director of the Platform project at the Winzavod Centre for Contemporary Art.
EUROPEAN FILM AWARDS 2016 - European Composer Award (Ilya Demutsky)
FESTIVAL DU NOUVEAU CINEMA (FNC) - Daniel Langlois Innovation Award
KINOTAVR OPEN RUSSIAN FILM FESTIVAL 2016 - Prize for Best Direction
UN CERTAIN REGARD/ CANNES 2016 - Official Selection - François Chalet Prize
FILMFEST MUNCHEN - Competition 2016