Festival of Singular Films

The first film festival at GES-2 features the Russian premieres of some of the finest international debut films of the year, along with a special section dedicated to classic and rare films.

The GES-2 film festival is envisioned as an annual event, with each year focusing on a new central theme that highlights current trends in cinema and offers a unique perspective on film history. This year, viewers will experience films that, for various reasons, became—or have so far remained—the only full-length works by their creators.

Programme 

The festival features two programmes—retrospective and contemporary. The retrospective includes films from various countries and periods, such as the USA, Germany, the USSR, and Korea, spanning from the 1930s to the 2000s. The creators’ lives varied greatly, often marked by significant drama, which in turn influenced their distinctive approaches to directing.

At the festival opening, the programme will be discussed by the project’s curators—Denis Ruzaev and Sergei Sdobnov.

The opening will also feature a special event, a screening of Anemic Cinema by Marcel Duchamp, the artist’s only film. This classic silent film will be shown with a musical accompaniment by contemporary composer Anton Svetlichny.

One film was made by a star actor who only once was given the opportunity to work on the other side of the camera. Another is the first and last directorial attempt by a brilliant educator, who returned to his primary profession after filming. Other directors passed away shortly after their debuts, or grew disappointed in the profession, finding the film industry to be heartless. Their brief careers, however, did not stop any of them creating original and truly outstanding films.

In contrast, the contemporary programme showcases entirely new films—the debut works of directors who are just starting their careers but have already gained recognition and even won awards at leading international festivals, including Cannes and Locarno. These directors hail from around the globe, including Argentina, the USA, France, Singapore, and Russia. Nearly all the films in this section will be screened in Russia for the first time.

These two complementary programmes not only offer an unexpected perspective on classic films and striking debuts of contemporary directors, but also show how complex and unpredictable the professional path of the cinematographer has always been. The dramatism of the retrospective section is also imbued with a sense of hope that comes from the original ideas, plots and experiments of debut directors.

Ultimately, every work at the Festival of Singular Films shares one key trait: they could not have been created by anyone else. Sometimes, a single film is enough to make history—if it is truly unique in its genre.

The screenings are accompanied by an educational programme curated by acclaimed film critic Naum Kleiman. In the public discussions, we will explore the early films of major directors from various eras, focusing on the narrative, dramatic, formal, and stylistic choices they made before they could envision the future trajectory of their careers or their eventual place in the history of world cinema.

Curators
Denis Ruzaev, Sergey Sdobnov

Educational programme curator
Naum Kleiman

Comprehensive programmes specialist
Arina Khokhlova

Producers
Oksana Agapova, Valeria Motorueva

Media specialist
Anastasia Melnikova-Belinskaya

Head of International Relations
Anastasia Gvozdeva

Accessibility programmes team
Alexandra Kharchenko, Vlad Kolesnikov, Victoria Kuzmina, Varya Merenkova, Vera Zamyslova