The first feature-length film by the stage director Andrey Stadnikov, who transfers the methods of avant-garde theater to contemporary cinema. Strangely enough, the action of Georg Büchner's eponymous classic play unfolds in present-day Russia, which is still haunted by the specter of revolution and the accursed questions associated with it. The international premiere of the film is being held within the framework of the Made in Russia special program of the New Holland Island International Debut Film Festival. It will be followed by a Q&A with the director.
The debut feature of a young Russian playwright and theatre director tells the story of the final days of the Dantonists, who represented the right-wing of the Jacobins during the French Revolution. The figure of Danton, one of the founding fathers of the First French Republic and its brightest tribune, drew support from among those dissatisfied with the policy of the revolutionary dictatorship and advocated the mitigation of terror. All of them were brought before the Revolutionary Tribunal and executed.
Andrey Stadnikov's experimental work loosely references the eponymous play by Georg Büchner, which in many ways foreshadowed the documentary theatre of the twentieth century, and draws bold parallels with modernity. The film focuses on the relationship between Danton and Robespierre and the problems of revolutionary violence and justice, questioning why the revolution never fails to devour its children.
Danton's Death
Dir. Andrey Stadnikov
Russia, 2020. 95 min. 18+