Grace (Blazh / Grace), the first feature film by Russian director Ilya Povolotsky, will be presented in the Quinzaine des Cinéastes at the Cannes Film Festival 2023. The drama follows a father and daughter traveling through peripheral Russia on board a traveling cinema.
Little information is available about the film at the moment, but Ilya Povolotsky's track record as a director is promising. He directed Forth in 2019, an elegantly filmed portrait of a small, eccentric community on the edge of the world, as well as The Northerners in 2018, a cycle of film essays focusing on Northern individualism.
Born on February 3, 1987, Ilya Povolotsky graduated from the Law Faculty of the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation in 2009 and founded the Blackchamber studio. He is an award-winning director of commercials and special projects at international advertising festivals. His short documentary "Northerners" was officially selected for the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and the CameraImage International Film Festival.
The film Grace should offer an interesting perspective on life in peripheral Russia and family relationships, while highlighting the impact of the traveling film culture. With Ilya Povolotsky's directing talent and sensitivity to marginalized communities, La Grâce could be a standout work at the Cannes Film Festival 2023's Quinzaine des Cinéastes.
