Woman With Five Elephants, The Germany / Switzerland
2009, 93min.
Producers: Vadim Jendreyko, Hercli Bundi, Thomas Tielsch, Inge Classen, Marion Bornschier, Urs Augstburger, Dir./Script: Vadim Jendreyko, Directors of Photography: Niels Bolbrinker, Stéphane Kuthy, Composers: Daniel Almada, Martín Iannaccone, Prod. Design: Niels Bolbrinker, Stéphane Kuthy , Sound: Patrick Becker, Florian Beck, Editor: Gisela Castronari
Cast: Svetlana Geier, Anna Götte, Hannelore Hagen, Jürgen Klodt, Johannes Geier, Sofiya Mikhaylova, Fyodor Mikhaylov
Documentary portrait of 86-year-old Svetlana Geier, who has dedicated her life to translating Russian literature into German. In the last twenty years she has concentrated on the five great novels, “The Five Elephants” of Dostoevsky. The film juxtaposes Geier's meticulous intellectual effort – which she carries out with several retired friends – with her everyday activities in and around the house: peeling apples, making tea and receiving her children and grandchildren. When she is invited to be a guest lecturer in Kiev, she returns to her natal homeland for the first time in 56 years.
Awards
DEFA Sponsoring Prize "for an outstanding German documentary film" (DOK Leipzig, 2009); SRG SSR idée Suisse Prize, Prize of Suissimage and of the Society of Swiss Writers SSA for the most innovative Swiss film; special mention from the Interreligious Jury (Visions du Réel in Nyon, Switzerland, 2009); Audience Award for the Best Documentary Film (Bozner Filmtage, 2010); Best Documentary (Quartz 2010 - Swiss Film Award, 2010); SRG SSR idée Suisse Prize "For the Best Educational, Societal or Science Television Programme for a Large Audience" (BaKaForum, Switzerland 2010); Alpe Adria Cinema Award to the Best Documentary Film, Audience Award for the Best Documentary Film (Trieste FF, 2010)
Production Companies
Mira Film GmbH
Badenerstrasse 129
CH-8004 Zürich
Tel.: (41- 43 - 960 36 81, 41- 43 - 960 36 84)
Fax: (41- 43 - 960 36 94)
Email: info@mirafilm.ch
www.mirafilm.ch
Filmtank GmbH
Friedrichstrasse 23a
70174 Stuttgart
Tel.: (49 711 305 82 34)
Email: filmtank@filmtank.de
www.filmtank.de
| Jendreyko, Vadim Vadim Jendreyko (born 1965, Bremen, Germany)
Grew up in Switzerland. He attended grammar school, the Basel School of Applied Art and the Düsseldorf Art Academy. He completed his first film in 1986. In 2002, he and Hercli Bundi founded Mira Film GmbH, where he works as producer and co-producer. He is the father of two children and lives in Basel.
Filmography
Exiltibeter zwischen zwei Kulturen (1986), Der Koffer (1989), Auf dem Weg durchs Exil (1994/97), Bashkim (2002), Transit: Zurich Airport – An Insight into a Closed Zone (2003), Performance at the Limit (2004), The Woman with Five Elephants (2009)
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