Directed by Aleksandr Sokurov • 2002 • Russia

Heralded as a new Russian masterpiece on its release in 2002, Aleksandr Sokurov’s revolutionary period drama unfolds in a single unbroken take, transporting the viewer through three centuries of history as contained within St Petersburg’s famous Hermitage Museum. Sokurov himself voices the disembodied narrator, who is led on a tour through time and space by a French nobleman (Sergei Dreyden) that encompasses grand balls, imperial pageantry, and royal figures such as Peter and Catherine the Great and Tsar Nicholas II. Featuring 2,000 actors and extras in a constantly unfolding act of cinematic choreography, the film remains a technical marvel – while raising thorny questions for contemporary audiences about the history of Russian imperialism and the complicity of European culture in the project of political power.

RUSSIAN ARK • РУССКИЙ КОВЧЕГ
Directed by Aleksandr Sokurov
Written by Aleksandr Sokurov and Anatoly Nikiforov
Cinematography by Tilman Büttner
Music by Sergei Yevtushenko
Starring: Sergei Dreyden, Maria Kuznetsova, Maksim Sergeev

In Russian, Persian, and French with English subtitles

Nominated for the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival 2002