THE$FOOL$!

Yury%Bykov’s%3rd%feature%and%follow%up%to%his%Cannes%debut%presentation%of%“The%Major”%

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!!!STORYLINE$$“The!Fool”!is!a!movie!about!a!simple!plumber.!He!is!an!honest!man!who!is!up!against!the!entire!system!of!corrupt!bureaucrats.!The!lives!of!800!inhabitants!of!an!old!dormitory,!which!is!at!risk!of!collapsing,!are!at!stake!and!all!the!time!they!have!is!just!one!night.!!SYNOPSIS$$Dima!Nikitin! is! a!housing!maintenance! foreman! from!a! little! town.!A! simple!man,!like!any!other.!The!only!quality!that!sets!him!apart!is!a!rare!combination!of!honesty!and!integrity.!This!makes!many!think!he!is!a!bit!of!a!freak.!Nikitin!is!summoned!to!the!local!dormitory!to!fix!a!broken!pipe.!On!the!spot!he!notices!a!huge!crack!and!realises! that! the!building! is!already! leaning!and!will!not! last!until! morning.! He! knows! that! the! people! living! in! the! building! have! to! be!evacuated!immediately,!but!who!will!believe!him?!Starting!from!his!manager,!Nikitin!climbs!higher!and!higher!up!the!ranks,!finally!reaching!the!heads!of!the!local! administration.! However,! all! they! do! is! try! to! calm! NikitinJtheJtroublemaker! down!with! their! vague! rhetoric,! claiming! that! the! building! is!just! fine.! How! will! Nikitin! tackle! the! challenge! with! only! a! few! hours! left?!

Ignoring!advice!from!his! influential! friends!to!skip!town,!he!decides!to!go!all!the!way.!Having! sent!his!wife!off! to! a! safe!place,! he! throws!himself! into! the!uneven!battle.!He! tries! to!get! through!to! the! least! indifferent!member!of! the!local!administration,!the!lady!mayor!J!with!all!other!opportunities!exhausted,!she!becomes!the!only!hope!for!Nikitin!and!those!people!living!in!the!stricken!building,! who! refuse! to! believe! in! the! pending! danger! and! to! leave! the!dormitory…!!DIRECTOR’S$STATEMENT$!I%came%up%with%the%script%for%The%Fool%literally%overnight%D%the%time%it%takes%for%the% action% in% the%movie% to% evolve.% I% had% just% returned% home,% went% for% a% walk%around% the% town% and% noticed% how% old% it% looked,% despite% the% fact% that% it% was%founded% some% 45% years% ago.% The% houses,% with% rare% exceptions,% were% in%ramshackle%condition,%with%blackened%cracking%walls.%In%the%evening%I%listened%to%my% neighbours% talk% about% leaking% pipes% and% roofs,% and% major% renovation%projects% that% ended% up% being% limited% to% a% mere% faceDlift% for% the% sake% of%appearance%or%a%tick%in%a%report.%Many%were%predicting%that%the%building%would%soon%just%fall%down%like%a%house%of%cards.%That%evening%I%was%watching%the%news%on%TV%and%there%were%five%or%six%stories%about%the%shabby%state%of%housing,%built%mostly%during%the%Brezhnev%times%or%earlier.%The%housing%services%were%unable%to% cope% with% the% problems,% utility% bills% were% growing% and% the% state% was% not%allocating% any% funding% for% building% new% houses.% Market% prices% were%unreasonably%skyDhigh%and%out%of%reach%for%working%folk,%so%they%were%unable%to%live%in%proper%houses.%It%was%as%if%they%lived%on%top%of%a%volcano%that%was%about%to%erupt,%with%no%escape...%%And%I%had%this%simple%yet%clear%idea%to%make%a%movie%about%a%simple%plumber%D%an%ordinary%honest%man%fighting%with%the%entire%system%of%bureaucrats%tied%up%with%each%other.%It’s%a%matter%of%life%and%death:%the%lives%of%800%people,%who%live%in%the%old%dormitory%that%is%under%a%risk%of%collapsing%overnight,%are%at%stake.%%“The%Fool”%refers%to%people’s%reactions%to%our%protagonist%and%not%to%his%mental%abilities% D% he% is% absolutely% sane% and% proper.% When% the% «battle»% begins,% most%people%act%according%to%their%natural%instincts:%to%remain%alive%and%to%preserve%their% peace% and% wellDbeing.% Suddenly% in% this% fight% appears% a% soldier% with% a%precise%code%D%his%conscience…%%Such%people%are%very%rare%today.%We%call%them%romantic,%altruistic,%idealistic%or%simply%“fools”% to%stress% that% they%do%not%act%normal% in% the%time%when%cynicism,%fear% and% indifference% have% become% the% norm.% Such% “fools”% still% exist% in% my%country,%and%it%gives%hope”.%%%%Yury!Bykov!

!!CREDITS$Director:!Yury!Bykov!Screenplay:!Yury!Bykov!Director%of%Photography:%Kirill!Klepalov!Starring:!Artem!Bystrov,!Nataliya!Surkova,!Boris!Nevzorov,!Kirill!Polukhin,!Darya!Moroz,!Yury!Tsurilo,!Irina!Nizina,!Alexander!Korshunov,!Maxim!Pinsker,!Sergey!Artsibashev,!Olga!Samoshina,!Elena!Panova,!Ilya!Isaev,!Dmitry!Kulitchkov,!Lubov!Rudenko,!Gordey!Kobzev,!Pyotr!Barancheev!Editor:%Yury!Bykov!Music%by:%Yury!Bykov!Production%designer:!Stanislav!Novak!Sound%designer:!Arkady!Noskov!Executive%producers:!Elena!Bystrova,!Philipp!Pastukhov!Producers:!Alexey!Uchitel,!Kira!Saksaganskaya!Production:%Rock!Films!and!New!Projects!with!the!support!of!the!Ministry!of!Culture!of!the!Russian!Federation!Country:!Russia!Year%of%production:!2014!!YURY$BYKOV$BIOGRAPHY$Yury! Bykov! was! born! in! 1981! to! a! workingJclass! family! in! the! town! of!Novomichurinsk.!In!2005!he!graduated!from!the!AllJRussian!State!Institute!of!Cinematography!where!he!studied!acting.!Yury!had!a!number!of!jobs!prior!to!graduation,! including! a! loader! and! an! engine! driver.! He! never! studied! film!directing! but! was! close! friends! with! students! of! famous! Russian! director!Alexey! Uchitel,! who! later! became! the! producer! of! his! films.! Yury! began! his!career!by!directing!and!producing!'Principal',!his!first!short!film,!and!received!the! main! prize! at! the! Kinotavr! Open! Russian! Film! Festival.! Following! this,!Alexey!Uchitel! offered! to! produce! Yury's! first! feature! film! 'Live!'!which!was!based!on!Yury’s!own!script.!The!film!was!well!received!by!film!critics!and!won!several!prizes!at!national!and!international!film!festivals.!Then!Yury!wrote!the!script!for!'The!Major',!and!again!the!film!was!produced!by!Alexey!Uchitel!and!his!studio!Rock!Films.!«The!Major»!premiered!during!the!Critic’s!Week!at!the!Cannes!Film!Festival,!received!the!Grand!Prix!at!the!Shanghai!IFF,!received!the!Canal!+!Nouveau!Genre!Award!at!the!Etrange!IFF,!was!shown!at!the!Karlovy!Vary!IFF,!Toronto!IFF!and!many!other.!!«The!Fool»!is!the!3rd!feature!film!that!Yury!Bykov!wrote,!directed!and!edited.!!!!

ROCK$FILMS$(www.rockfilms.ru)!!Film!director!and!producer!Alexey!Uchitel!founded!rock!Films!Studio!in!1991.!It!was!named!after! the!documentary!by!Uchitel,!which!was! filmed! in!Russia!during!Perestroika.!Today!the!studio!produces!both!feature!and!documentary!films.!Of!particularly!highJpriority!to!the!studio!is!its!debutJline,!which!enables!young! and! talented! directors! to! create! their! first! films.! During! the! last! 22!years!films!produced!by!Rock!Films!have!received!more!than!60!film!festival!awards!and!were!released!theatrically!both!in!Russia!and!internationally.!!!

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