Место на земле

Synopsis

At the dawn of the 21st century, in a city still heavy with Soviet decadence, six homeless couples set up a hippie commune in the centre of Moscow. The leader’s strong personality (magnetic but obsessed with the idea of free love and sex), the constant police persecution, the pervading poverty and their endless fallings-out soon push their dream into a distant utopia. Although hailed by critics, Место на земле remains relatively unknown among audiences. As part of this year’s Satellites parallel section, Andrés Duque has programmed this neglected film to strike up a dialogue with his exploration of immigrant aesthetics.

Bio/Filmo

Armenian-Russian director Artur Aristakisian (Chișinău, Moldavian SSR, 1961) studied at the Moscow Film School, where he now teaches. Drawing on a youth spent living among down-and-outs and drug addicts, his work captures glimpses of lives lived between the cracks of the system by devious characters alienated by society. In his hands, the camera reveals otherwise invisible details. He also made the documentary Ladoni (1994).