Alexey German Jr. – Under Electric Clouds #Berlinale

Alexey German Jr. – director – Under Electric Clouds (Pod electricheskimi oblakami)

Alexey German Jr joins FRED’s Chiara Nicoletti at the 65th Berlin Film Festival to talk about his new film UNDER ELECTRIC CLOUDS which is in competition at the Festival.

As the film is set in the Russia of 2017 but German Jr plays with time and structure on purpose, the inevitable question is to ask his opinion on the situation of Russia today. Director Alexey German Jr also tells us more about his quoting Cezanne at the beginning of the film and his attempt of speaking in a language that springs from the traditions of impressionism.

Plot: Russia 2017. The world could be on the verge of a great war. People are anxious that things could fall apart. Revolving around an unfinished building, a diverse group of outsiders struggle to find their place in this rapidly changing society, making up the mosaic of existence that is life itself… With sophisticated visuals and wit, writer-director Alexey German Jr. boldy pursues his exploration of Russian culture and politics by reaching deep into the soul of the human spirit.

A Kyrgyz construction worker arrives in Russia, finding himself almost on a different planet due to language problems and prejudice. His problems worsen when he discovers that the construction site has been shut down… A brother and sister return from abroad to inherit their deceased father’s large estate. They have no plans to remain and complete their adored father’s ambitious architectural project. They are rejected by his close friends and they are pressured about the unfinished building… A real estate lawyer and his haunting dreams about the past begin to push away the present, as if he is living some other life, not his own… A musuem guide has been working on the same art dissertation for years. His museum is now in danger of closing due to the progressive new building under construction. He must choose whether to protect his museum or move on… A war refugee who lost his entire family attempts to save a young girl held hostage near the abandoned construction site… The 40-something architect of that unfinished building simply refuses to grow up. When he falls in love with a woman many years younger, he tries to find a common language. Soviet Russia is still a part of him, but for her those were medieval times.