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Something Better to Come

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Something Better to Come
Film poster
Directed byHanna Polak
Written byHanna Polak
Produced bySigrid Dyekjær [da]
Hanna Polak
StarringYula
CinematographyHanna Polak
Edited byMarcin Bastkowski
Music byKristian Eidnes Andersen
Release date
Running time
98 minutes
Countries
LanguageRussian

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 Sigrid Dyekjær [da] of Danish Documentary. Something Better to Come won the Special Jury Award at the IDFA documentary festival , where the film had premiered.

Content

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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 vérité style that stuns with its directness and immediacy.

Reception

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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."[1] Aleksandr Gorbachev from Newsweek called the film "a great coming-of-age story – Boyhood from a trash can."[2] Sheri Linden from The Los Angeles Times described the film as "work of powerful images – heart-rending, elegiac, charged with hope."[3] Joshua Oppenheimer, director of The Act of Killing, stated that his "most powerful experience of nonfiction cinema this year was [...] Something Better to Come."[4] While Neil Young from The Hollywood Reporter reviewed it as "an eye-opening documentary."[5]

Awards

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References

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  1. ^ "Something Better to Come". Screen Daily.
  2. ^ "The Best Documentaries of 2015 (So Far)". Newsweek.
  3. ^ "'Something Better to Come' reveals lives in a Russian dump". Los Angeles Times.
  4. ^ "Oscars 2015: they should have been contenders…". The Guardian.
  5. ^ "'Something Better to Come': IDFA Review". The Hollywood Reporter.
  6. ^ "#HSDFF Award Winners & Sunday, October 18 Schedule". Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival.
  7. ^ "A Film Festival's Fight for Human Rights". Handelsblatt Global Edition.
  8. ^ "The Winners". Jameson CineFest.
  9. ^ "Winner of the Berlin's Favourite Award 2015". Favourites Film Festival Berlin.
  10. ^ "Awards of the XXIX Pärnu Film Festival". Pärnu Film Festival.
  11. ^ "Winners at Valletta Film Festival 2015". Valletta Film Festival.
  12. ^ "Documentary Edge Festival Celebrates Illustrious Awards!". Documentary Edge Festival.
  13. ^ "Winners of 13. Gdańsk DocFilm Festival". Gdańsk DocFilm Festival.
  14. ^ "Something Better to Come Awarded Twice In Russia". Polish Docs.
  15. ^ "A unique encounter of film and world visions – the winners of 12th Docs Against Gravity Film Festival have been announced". Docs Against Gravity Film Festival.
  16. ^ "Winners 2015". Dok.fest Muenchen.
  17. ^ "'Something Better to Come' And 'Starting Point' Awarded At DocumentaMadrid". Polish Docs.
  18. ^ "'War without Trace' named Best Film at One World Brussels". Cineuropa.
  19. ^ "Eurodok Award to Something Better to Come". Norwegian Film Institute.
  20. ^ "11th ZagrebDox winners announced". ZagrebDox.
  21. ^ "The awards of the 13th edition of the FIFDH have been announced!". International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights.
  22. ^ "The Winner". Trieste Film Festival.
  23. ^ "Something Better to Come Wins at IDFA". Danish Film Institute.
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