MOSCOW — Russia’s oldest film studio and production company, St. Petersburg-based Lenfilm, will produce an anthology film about St. Petersburg with international directors, including Todd Solondz, Ralph Fiennes, Cedric Klapisch and Alexandre Rockwell helming various segments.
The anthology will feature 10 segments: Pleasure, Effort, Trust, Envy, Repose, Shrewdness, Bravery, Uncertainty, Refuge and Glee. The first letters of their titles form the word “Petersburg.”
Among Russian directors brought onboard are Timur Bekmambetov and Fyodor Bondarchuk, the latter of which will be the anthology’s creative director.
St Petersburg: A Category of Feelings will be produced by Lenfilm in cooperation with another local company, STV, whose head, Sergei Selyanov, came up with the film’s idea.
The project has already secured government funding from Russia’s culture ministry. Earlier this week, it was announced among the winners of the annual contest for state cash in the auteur and experimental film category.
The producers said they expect that the film will have wide international distribution.
Although St. Petersburg has never been the subject of an anthology film in Russia, Moscow has, with Moskva, ya lyublyy tebya! (Moscow, I Love You!), released five years ago. It bombed critically and nose-dived at the box office.
