Two Russian films scoop prizes at Karlovy Vary

A pair of Russian films — Vitaly Mansky’s Pipeline and Yusup Razykov’s Shame — scooped prizes at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in the Czech Republic on Saturday. Pipeline (2013), which picked up the Best Documentary award, is a journey along the length of a gas pipeline that runs from western Siberian to western Europe. The film explores the commonalities between the different groups that live along the route. The win comes just a month after Mansky took home an award for best director at the Kinotavr Russian Film Festival in Sochi, where the film premiered.

Mansky, 49, is one of Russia’s most established documentary filmmakers. In the past, he filmed a series of portraits of well-known figures including President Vladimir Putin, the Dalai Lama and pop duo Tatu. He also runs ArtDokFest, a festival of Russian-language documentary held in Moscow every December.

Yusup Razykov’s Shame (2013) won the FIPRESCI critics prize. The film chronicles the lives of submariners’ wives on a military base on the Kola Peninsula as they come to terms with the loss of a submarine accident. Karlovy Vary, held in the Czech spa town since 1946 is one of Europe’s major film festivals, with a special focus on central and east European Cinema. The Grand Prix was awarded to Le grand cahier by Hungarian director János Szász.