Russian director Alexander Sokurov apparently declined Cannes' "personal" invitation to screen his new film “Gjirokastra” at the prestigious festival. Why? Sokurov vaguely explained that the film was "too serious to participate at Cannes”.
Apparently, Sokurov's new film is about a fictional event that took place during World War II. “This is a pure fairy tale, fiction. This is such a completely new artistic act for me. This is not journalism and not research at all. A film with a complex, very complex, technological performance. There has probably never been such a technological implementation yet on film,” Sokurov said.
I honestly am not sure what Sokurov means by that, but consider me intrigued by the Russian master’s latest. If it’s half as invigorating as 2002’s “Russian Ark” then it no doubt deserved a competition slot at Cannes. Of course, we don’t know the quality of the film, but if Cannes liked it enough to invite him to this year’s 75th edition then it must surely be worth a look.
Sokurov currently teaches film at a Russian university and it was rumored that he might show up at this Cannes. Alas, we now know he declined to go. Last week, Kirill Serebrennikov’s “Tchaikovsky’s Wife” was selected for competition. The Russian filmmaker has left Russia for Berlin and said he has no intention of returning to his home country.