FAR, FAR AWAY

“Once upon a time in far-off lands…” In childhood we were all enchanted by the opening phrases of charming bedtime fairy-tales. Now grown-up men and women go to the cinema. Among other things they want to listen to merry and sad stories which greatly resemble fairy-tales. And for the existence of this analogy the presence of this very far-off land is mandatory.

One can use computer graphics. But men and women have grown up. They want something more real. And cinema can provide this exotic reality for them. It turns out there are lots of places on Earth which have the right to be called “far-off lands” irrespective of the ruling regime. It may be a village lost in the depths of Cameroon or some abandoned area in Mexico. The studio of Korean dreams on Madagascar or a Chinese enclave in Malaysia.

Amazing, wonderful, fantastic places. Without downplaying their exotic character the cinema brings closer those faraway locations.

Sergey Lavrentiev