This talk is devoted to the hard social, spiritual and human questions of contemporary Russia and their reflection in the Russian cinema. As a jumping-off point, it uses the film ELENA by Andrei Zvyagintsev, the most profound and internationally recognized film among recent Russian movies.

Gregory Kataev attended the Russian State Institute of Cinematography and is a film, television and theater director, who has directed theater and opera at the Stanislavsky Dramatic Theater, Lyubimovka Theater Festival, the Moscow State Conservatory, Tchaikovsky Concert Hall, the Moscow Art Theater and on Russian television. He has directed two feature films, My Life and Collage, and the documentary film about the dissident poet Naum Korzhavin.