Elena

Elena and Vladimir are an older couple, they come from different backgrounds. Vladimir is a wealthy and cold man, Elena comes from a modest milieu and is a docile wife. They have met late in life and each one has children from previous marriages. Elena’s son is unemployed and is constantly asking Elena for money, while Vladimir’s daughter has a distant relationship with her father. A heart attack puts Vladimir in hospital, where he makes an important decision: his daughter will be the sole heiress of his wealth. Elena‘s hopes to financially help her son suddenly vanish and she comes up with a plan to give her son and grandchildren a real chance in life.

Director's Biography
Andreï Zvyagintsev, born 1964 in Novosibirsk, Russia. He graduated from the acting department of the Russian Academy of Theatre Arts. In 2000 he made his directorial debut with three episodes of REN TV’s “The Black Room”. His first feature film THE RETURN won a Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 2003 for the best directorial debut. ELENA premiered at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard section, where it won the Jury Prize. // Films (Selected): VOZVRASHCHENIE (The Return, 2003), IZGNANIE (The BANISHMENT, 2007), APOCRYPHA (2009, short), ELENA (2011)
European Panorama Fiction 2012
Andreϊ Zvyagintsev
Russia 2011
color
109 minutes
OV with English subtitles
Screenplay Oleg Negin/Andreï Zvyagintsev
Cinematography Mikhail Krichman
Editing Anna Mass
Sound/Sounddesign Andrey Dergachev/Stas Krechkov
With Andrey Smirnov/Nadezhda Markina/Elena Lyadova/Alexey Rozin/Evgenia Konushkina/Igor Ogurtsov/Vasiliy Michkiv/Alexey Maslodudov
Production
NON-STOP PRODUCTION Uspenskiy pereulok 3, bld 2 127006 Moscow Russia T +7 916 641 67 19 shneyderova@gmail.com