MOSCOW, January 27. /TASS/. Paradise, a new film by world-acclaimed Russian film director Andrei Konchalovsky, has won the Russian national Golden Eagle Award in the Best Film nomination.
The award ceremony took place at the Mosfilm studios in Moscow on Friday.
Konchalovsky, who is known internationally for his films ‘Uncle Vanya’, ‘Maria’s Lovers’, ‘Runaway Train’, ‘Duet for One’, and ‘Shy People’ has received the Golden Eagle awards for best directing.
The plot of the film intertwines the destinies of three entirely different people - a Russian emigree Olga, and aristocrat who fights with the Nazi invaders in the ranks of the French Resistance Movement, the French collaborator Jules, and the high-rank SS officer Helmut, who was Olga’s passionate beau.
Olga (Yuliya Vysotskaya), who is arrested for hiding Jewish children during German roundups, first faces Jules (Philippe Duquesne), who oversees her case. He seems to be ready to mitigate her plight of a prisoner in exchange for liaison a twist of destiny drives Olga into a Nazi concentration camp where she bumps into Helmut (Christian Clauss) who was hopelessly in love with her in the past.
Since the defeat of Nazi Germany is already close at hand, Helmut decides to rescue Olga from the camp amid a weird and knotty relationship with her. He wants to disappear together with her in South America and Olga agrees to the plan but eventually she discovers that her realization of a happy life has changed.
Andrei Konchalovsky, who is a half-brother on the maternal line with another eminent Russian filmmaker, Nikita Mikhalkov, thanked the organizers of the prize contest for their choice. He recalled that the awarding was held on Holocaust Remembrance Day.
"I hope we made a small contribution with the aid of this film to the maintaining of memories about it," he said.
The world premiere of Paradise took place at the Venice Film Festival on September 8, 2016. Konchalovsky was awarded the Silver Lion for the best direction. In Russia, the film hit the screens on January 19.
Eastablished in 2002, the Golden Eagle Award is an accolade by the National Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences of Russia to recognize the excellence of professionals in the film industry, directors, actors and writers.
Paradise’s rivals this year were Nikolay Lebedev’s Flight Crew, Nikolay’s Khomeriki’s Icebreaker, Alexei Mizgirev’s The Duelist, and Alexei Krasovsky’s Collector.