Vasiliy Gorchakov

18 directors, 18 novels, 18 short stories about Moscow...

A comic study of 20th-century history, reconstructing the life of writer, creator and professional prisoner Tulse Luper. Born in 1911 Newport and last heard of in 1989, Luper’s life is pieced together from the evidence found in 92 suitcases scattered across the globe. In the final installment, Luper continues his adventures as a professional prisoner during the later years of the Second World War and the Cold War.

“Biliyorsunuz, içinde yaşadığımız zamanda her şey mümkün. Peki ya her şey bir anda çökerse ne olacak?” diye sorar eski şair, taze reklamcı Tatarski müşterisine. İşte, 20. yüzyıla damgasını vuran iki büyük tarihsel momente, Sovyetlerin inşasına ve çöküşüne birinci elden şahitlik etmiş Rus halkının ruh halini belirleyen şey, Pelevin’e göre bu belirsizliğin kendisidir. Mafyanın güç kazandığı, uyuşturucunun yaygınlaştığı, yolsuzluğun rutinleştiği yeni Rusya’da, serbest pazarın biçimlendirdiği yepyeni bir kuşak yeşermektedir. Kapitalizm yeni fethedilmiş topraklardaki yeni ilahiyatını, markalar ve vurucu reklam sloganlarıyla kurar! BabylenTatarski de böylesi bir atmosferde adım attığı reklam sektöründe zekası ve yaratıcılığı sayesinde hızla yükselir. Fakat bu sistemin “kazananlarından” biri olma mücadelesinde kimi zaman gerçeküstü durumlarla karşı karşıya kalacağından ve nihayetinde tamamen çığırından çıkmış bir dünyanın merkezine doğru çekileceğinden bihaberdir.

Alexey is shooting a movie about himself. He is in search of a boyfriend. Everything would be alright, if Alexey's mother could accept his sexuality. Alexey comes to visit her and admits that he likes boys, saying 'Don't you anticipate any grandchildren from me'. We find Alexey at Tarkovsky film festival, where he apparently came to rest. Alexey meets Grisha, and a stormy holiday romance begins.

The matriarchal clan led by gorgeous Margarita enters a turbulent period when her son loses his beloved fiancée. Using the structure of a repetitive ritual, the action spans years but takes place mostly during the annual gatherings of Margarita's extraordinary family in their mansion on New Year's Eve. Margarita believes in the magical 13th hour that can break the eternal circle of repetition, defeat death and bring her much-awaited love.

Petersburg. A Selfie comprises seven novellas about the beautiful city of St. Petersburg, Russia, shot by female directors. The film tells a story of a real, living and breathing city, rather than a mythical phantasm. Each novella tells its own story about love and loneliness, luck and hope.

Several short stories tell the story of the complex relationships between difficult children and their parents.

Young police detective Faina tries to experiment with herself in order to meet her dead love.

Colonel of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Lukyanov, is going on vacation with his wife to a resort town, where his old friend, Major Alekseev, a local police officer, lives. When they meet, the old friends agree to catch up the next day, but Alekseev seems worried about something he needs to finish. That night, Alekseev goes on a mission alone, during which he is hit by a car. When Lukyanov hears about it, he offers his help to the local police as a private individual, feeling it is his duty to find out the circumstances of his friend's death. The colonel will have to determine whether it was a deliberate murder or an accident.

An unpicked pilot for a web-series, Pavel Grinyov explains the VHS culture of late USSR and post-Soviet nineties and the phenomenon of voiceover translation. Main example provided is a voiceover translation of Back to the Future (1985) by Vasiliy Gorchakov.