Pastorale
Filmfest 2011

Iosseliani's then-greatest achievement: A film of dreamily beautiful black & white faces and the sounds of folk instruments, with animal sounds instead of dialogue, and patient, almost silent sequences of characters going after their daily chores rather than any driving plot-line. PASTORALI revealed the matured, flowing compositional style of a unique cinematic visionary to the world at large. The Soviet authorities reacted promptly, banning the film, which was deemed "not uplifting enough". Ilya Grigorev