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Something Better to Come
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Wikipedia article
'Something Better to Come' is a Danish-Polish documentary film about children living on a garbage dump near Moscow directed by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Hanna Polak and produced by of Danish Documentary one of the world's key players in creative documentary film production. 'Something Better to Come' won the Special Jury Award at the world's biggest documentary festival IDFA, where the film had premiered.
Content
In 2000, in parallel with shooting 'The Children of Leningradsky', Hanna began working on 'Something Better to Come'. This was the same year Vladimir Putin stepped into power in Russia and coincidentally, the story of Yula, the main character
of the film, is parallel to the unfolding story of Putin's Russia.
Ten-year-old Yula has but one dream to lead a normal life. For 14 years, Hanna Polak follows Yula as she grows up in the forbidden territory of Svalka, the garbage dump located 13 miles from the Kremlin in Putin's Russia. 'Something Better to Come' is Yula's story a dramatic tale of coming of age and maturing to the point of taking destiny into one's own hands. It is a story
of hope, courage, and life, all shot in gripping vrit style that stuns with its directness and immediacy.
Reception
The film has received wide positive acclaim from critics. Mark Adams from 'Screen Daily' stated that 'Something Better to Come' is "strikingly visceral and plaintively moving documentary that is arresting right from its first powerful moments" and added that "This is a film that packs an emotional punch and is strikingly directed and shot by the talented Hanna Polak." Aleksandr Gorbachev from 'Newsweek' called the film "a great coming-of-age story 'Boyhood' from a trash can." Sheri Linden from 'The Los Angeles Times' described the film as "work of powerful images heart-rending, elegiac, charged with hope." Joshua Oppenheimer, director of 'The Act of Killing', stated that his "most powerful experience of nonfiction cinema this year was [...] Something Better to Come." While Neil Young from 'The Hollywood Reporter' reviewed it as "an eye-opening documentary."
Awards
* Special Jury Prize International Documentary, Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival (USA)* Youth Jury Award, (Germany)
* Best Documentary Award, Jameson CineFest (Hungary)
* Berlin's Favorite Award and Bremen's Favourite Award, Favourites Film Festival Berlin (Germany)
* The Estonian People's Award, Prnu Film Festival (Estonia)
* Best Documentary, Valletta Film Festival (Malta)
* Best International Feature Award, Documentary Edge Festival (New Zealand)
* Best Cinematography, Gdansk DocFilm Festival (Poland)
* Special Mention, Underhill Festival (Montenegro)
* Special Award Club 418 Mirror of Art DocFest and Small Mirror of Art DocFest, Andrey Tarkovsky International Film Festival (Russia)
* Millennium Award for Best Feature Documentary Film and Canon Non Fiction Frame Special Mention, Docs Against Gravity (Poland)
* VIKTOR Main Competition DOK.international, DOK.fest Munich (Germany
* Second prize of the Jury, DocumentaMadrid (Spain)
* Special Mention, One World Brussels (Belgium)
* Jury's Main Prize, Eurodok European Documentary Film Festival (Norway)
* Special Mention, ZagrebDox (Croatia)
* Grand Prix, Open Documentary Film Festival "Artdocfest" (Russia)
* Youth Jury Award, International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights (Switzerland)
* Alpe Adria Cinema Award: Best Documentary, Trieste Film Festival (Italy)
* Special Jury Award, International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) (Netherlands)
References
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