Short Summer by the Russian director Nastija Korija, produced by the Serbian production company Art & Popcorn, premiered in the “Perla” Hall in the Venice Days program at the Venice Film Festival.
Short Summer brings an intimate story about seven-year-old Kaća on the eve of her departure to school, while her grandparents are going through a crisis and are on the verge of separation. A poetic review of childhood, the film tries to look at Russian society at the time of the Second Chechen War and the terrorist attacks of 2004.
The film has already garnered excellent reviews in the international media, and the specialized website International Cinephile Society awarded it the maximum five stars, with the assessment that it is “A formalistic masterpiece where the story exists as much in the background as in the coming-of-age drama at its heart.”
In the text signed by the Dutch critic and editor of the website Mark van de Klashorst, it is stated that “Korkia’s hand in visually shaping the film is nothing short of masterful, especially in the way she calmly orchestrates scenes”, and that the film is “a truly remarkable piece of cinema whose formal rigor never outshines the tenderness of its protagonist, but brilliantly underlines the harshness of her world.”
The film was based on a screenplay by Nastija Korkija and Mihail Buškov, and was filmed during August and September 2024 in the vicinity of Belgrade, Bor, Perlez and several other locations. The project was realized as a co-production of the companies Tam Tam (Germany), Totem (France) and Art & Popcorn (Serbia).
The main role is played by the Russian actress Maja Pleskovic, who lives in Belgrade, while the famous Russian actors Aleksandar Feklistov, Jakov Karihaljin, Aleksander Karpushin, as well as Serbian actors Vesna Jovanović and Stojša Oljačić play supporting roles. A significant part of the film crew consists of Russian emigrants, and Serbian artists – costume designer Marija Janošević and film mask designer Jasmina Mina Lilić – also took part in the production.
The film received the support of numerous funds from Germany and France, MEDIA Creative Europe, as well as the Film Center Serbia and the Film Incentives Program of the Republic of Serbia. The producers are: Natalia Drozd, Andrea Schutte, Dirk Decker, Berenice Vincent, Miroslav Mogorović and Stefan Mladenović, who is also the executive producer of the film.
Photo: Alina Lugmanova