Documentary film
Russian Tour
A group of (mostly) European (mostly) avant-garde jazz musicians embarks on an epic musical tour across Russia. The plan is to travel 20,000 km, from Moscow to Vladivostok, on a bus. This ambitious project is organized and solely handled by Yuri Lnodgradskiy, Russian discipline-loving jazz impresario. The film follows the bus and its passengers as they get deeper and deeper into "Russian reality", bringing their music to people who had never expected to hear it.
In 2014, in Dubna, Russia, I accidentally met Yury Lnogradskiy, Russian musical entrepreneur. Yury told me about the project that he had been doing at that time for 2 years already: "MuzEnergoTour". He was inviting avant-garde musicians from Europe, securing funding from European grants and foundations and then travelling with these musicians by bus across Russia. Everything was organized without anybody's help, all brought to life by Yury sitting in front of his computer.
In 2014 he was already planning the 3rd and the most ambitious tour. His plan was to drive from Moscow to Vladivostok, to bring the musicians from one side of Russia to the other, giving concerts every day. He planned roughly 78 concerts in 80 days and 20000 km of roads in total.
Yury's project is truly one of a kind. Literally nobody does this in the world. I found the idea of bringing avant-garde jazz music to little Russian towns and villages fascinating. The concept itself already contains an explosive mix: a clash of cultures, a clash of reality and expectations. How will people react to the music? How will it be to perform in the middle of nowhere in a Russian village with a total population of 500 people, who most probably have never had any encounter neither with a foreigner nor with this kind of music?
The route Yury planned for 2015, from Moscow to Pacific Ocean, is a route that most people never have a chance to explore. It was going to be an experience of a lifetime both for me and for the musicians on a bus. I wanted to film this remarkable thing happening.
What's more, by that time I was already living in Switzerland for couple of years. Being a Russian native put me in a unique position to make a documentary movie about the tour: I'd feel myself equally "at home" with European musicians and with local people that we'll encounter on our way. In other words, I felt that if anybody should film Yury's tour, it should be me.
Yury's project is truly one of a kind. Literally nobody does this in the world. I found the idea of bringing avant-garde jazz music to little Russian towns and villages fascinating. The concept itself already contains an explosive mix: a clash of cultures, a clash of reality and expectations. How will people react to the music? How will it be to perform in the middle of nowhere in a Russian village with a total population of 500 people, who most probably have never had any encounter neither with a foreigner nor with this kind of music?
The route Yury planned for 2015, from Moscow to Pacific Ocean, is a route that most people never have a chance to explore. It was going to be an experience of a lifetime both for me and for the musicians on a bus. I wanted to film this remarkable thing happening.
What's more, by that time I was already living in Switzerland for couple of years. Being a Russian native put me in a unique position to make a documentary movie about the tour: I'd feel myself equally "at home" with European musicians and with local people that we'll encounter on our way. In other words, I felt that if anybody should film Yury's tour, it should be me.
