bfi Distribution presents
Krišana (Fallen)
(Germany/Latvia 2005)
Written, directed and photographed by Fred Kelemen
B/W / In Latvian & Russian with English Subtitles / 88 mins / Cert tbc
Starring Egons Dombrovskis, Nikolaj Korobov, Vigo Roga, Aija Dzerve
Release date: 29 September 2006
Opening venues: Tate Modern plus other tbc
'An existential detective story and a moving meditation on guilt and responsibility' The New York Times
A film-maker who swims against the tide of most contemporary cinema, the German director Fred Kelemen garnered much attention for his visionary 1990s trilogy. In Fate (1994), Frost (1997) and Nightfall (1999) the profound social uncertainties of an emergent, radically altered Europe and the stark personal crises of its dispossessed were explored with a rigorous formal invention and compelling emotional intensity. Indeed, the late Susan Sontag was an early champion of his work which has often been likened to the meditative, metaphysical cinema of Aleksandr Sokurov and Kelemen's Hungarian mentor Béla Tarr.
With Krišana (Fallen), his latest feature, Kelemen has continued on a defiantly independent path, financing the production himself and shooting, of necessity, relatively quickly and cheaply. The result is a brooding, existential fable for an unstable new century, a telling monochrome noir of yearning, unanchored lives. Set in Riga, it follows the attempts of Matiss Zelcs (Egons Dombrovskis), who works at the Latvian National Archive, to trace the identity of a woman he passed on a bridge at night but did not speak to, a woman he then heard leap into the river. Overcome by guilt at his failure to prevent her suicide, he becomes consumed by the need to understand what provoked her desperate act. Acquiring her handbag, he begins to construct a narrative around letters and photographs (in striking homage to Antonioni's Blow Up), and steadily infiltrates himself as an active agent into the life of the man she left behind. As Kelemen himself comments: 'The moment that somebody is dead, it's a big attraction. As long as we are alive, we are more dead somehow than when we are dead.'
From its virtuoso opening sequence, an extended tracking shot of remarkable atmospheric power, Kelemen constructs a world in which identity, worth, belonging and belief are both terribly vulnerable and very much longed for. Shooting on digital video (transferred to film) in the decaying Baltic port, with meticulously composed images and an intriguing soundtrack, he shapes a vision of moral ambiguity and profound social shifts. Kelemen's haunting tale of quiet desperation, selected as one of the top 10 favourite films of the year by Artforum critics, will be released by bfi Distribution on 29 September. Krišana will also be accompanied by the first London retrospective of the director's work at Tate Modern in October.
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For further information please contact: Sarah Harvey on 020 7703 2253
or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Elizabeth Benjamin at the bfi on 020 7957 4833 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
NOTES FOR EDITORS:
Fred Kelemen is available for interview in London from 12–14 July.
A special preview of Krišana will be presented at the Cambridge International Film Festival on 13 July. Fred Kelemen will be present at the screening.
Krišana (Fallen) was released in the US on 9 December 2005, opening at the Anthology Film Archives, New York.
Festivals:
Krišana has screened at the following festivals:
- Rotterdam International Film Festival, 2005
- Berlin International Film Festival, 2005
- Toronto International Film Festival, 2005
- The bfi Times London Film Festival, 2005
- Festival of European Cinema, Lecce, 2005
Awards:
- FIPRESCI (International Film Critics Best Film) – Festival of European Cinema, Lecce/Italy 2005
- Special Jury Prize for Best Direction - Festival of European Cinema, Lecce/Italy 2005
- Prize for Best Cinematography - Festival of European Cinema, Lecce/Italy 2005
- Latvian National Film Award 2005
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