
Don Juan
BackYear of participation | 2016 |
Program | Documentary Competition |
Producer(s) | Antonio Russo Merenda |
Director(s) | Jerzy Sladkowski |
Script | Jerzy Sladkowski |
Director of Photography | Wojciech Staron |
Music by | Timo Hietala |
Edit | Agnieszka Bojanowska, Jakub Sladkowski |
Production company(-ies) | Ginestra Film AB, Källängsvägen 61, 181 44 Lidingö, Sweden |
Synopsis
In Don Juan, twenty-two year old Oleg doesn’t live up to his mother Marina’s idea of a real man. She thinks he’s an autistic loafer. He’s enrolled at the University of Nizhny Novgorod and is supposed to be watching online lectures, but his mother says all he actually does is hang around watching TV. Oleg doesn’t have any need for friendships, either. Don Juan raises questions about the distinction between introversion and autism. When will Oleg be allowed to be himself at last? Salvation eventually comes from an unexpected source. This tender, bittersweet tragicomedy about role-playing within both therapeutic theatre games and family dramas, and the interplay between them, is both subtle and aggressive, speaking volumes about the definitions of normality, abnormality and the dynamics of power and love.
Awards
Best Feature-Length Documentary, IDFA, 2015, Best Nordic Documentary, Dragon Award, Göteborg IFF, 2016, My Generation Award, ZagrebDox, 2016
