SHOSHO

Aleksej Fedorchenko’s follow-up to his docu-fake PERVYE NA LUNE / THE FIRST ON THE MOON again blends documentary with fiction, but this time to a wholly different effect. The film takes us inside the world of the Meadow Mari, a small Finno-Ugric people. In late winter, following the Easter celebrations, masked carnival-like figures proclaim the end of the Orthodox fasting period. We see people baking bread, one man practising his skills on the stilts. Since the language is Mari, we don’t understand what is being said. But it doesn’t matter – we are instantly drawn into this enchanting panorama of crafted, colourful visual compositions, orchestrated with atmospheric folk and electronic music. German premiere.