Brutus (2016 film)

Brutus (Брут) is a short film directed by Konstantin Fam of 2015, the second novel of the film trilogy "Witnesses" and the sequel of the "Shoes", dedicated to the memory of Holocaust victims.

Plot
“Brutus” continues the concept of "Witnesses" trilogy and tells us story of the Holocaust through the eyes of a German Shepherd dog Brutus. The Nuremberg Laws have separated the dog with his favorite mistress, Jewish woman. In the process of training and taming Brutus becomes a concentration camp beast-killer. The film is based on a novel of a Czech writer Ludvik Ashkenazy.

Crew

 * Director: Konstantin Fam
 * Composer: Egor Romanenko
 * Producers: Konstantin Fam, Ian Fisher Romanovsky, Alexey A. Petruhin, Yuri Igrusha, Egor Odintsov
 * Script: Konstantin Fam
 * Cinematography: Giora Bejach

Cast

 * Oksana Fandera- Rosanna
 * Filipp Yankovsky - Horst
 * Vladimir Koshevoi - Leo
 * Anna Churina - Clara
 * Maria Zykova  - Ada
 * Marta Drozdova - Martha

Production
Filmmakers from Russia, Romania, Israel, the United States, Moldova, Belarus and the Czech Republic participated in the production.

The film was created with the financial support of the Ministry for Culture of Russia, as well as private philanthropists.

Art features
The crew used a variety of filming techniques. The main aim was to show the events through the dog's eyes.

Konstantin Fam:

"-Our film will be tough, but entirely pacifist in nature. My task is to make the viewer see things from the dog’s point of view, to show how quickly somebody can be brainwashed and turn into a monster"

Confession
Film premiered at the Moscow International Film Festival in June 2016.

Awards

 * The Nevada International Film Festival (USA), Experimental Film Competition, Platinum Reel Award Winner (2016)
 * Sochi International Film Awards (Russia), Special Prize (2016)
 * Film was longlisted to the 89th Academy Awards by Academy Award for Live Action Short Film (USA)
 * The Golden Eagle Award of National Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences of Russia (Russia)
 * Best Shorts Competition - "Best Jewish film" (USA)

Participations

 * Hong Kong World International Film Festival (Hong Kong)
 * International Filmmaker Festival of World Cinema London (UK)
 * Sedona Film Festival (USA)
 * PUFF Film Festival Hong Kong
 * Best Shorts Competition (USA)
 * New Haven International Film Festival (USA)

Official partners

 * Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia
 * Documentary Film Center
 * Youth Center of the Union of Cinematographers of the Russian Federation
 * ROSKINO