The Condemned



About the film

Title: The Condemned
Title in Russian: Приговоренные
Production company: TV Company Oikumena, Red Zed Films
Country of production: UK, Russia
Year of Production: 2013
Duration: 80 min.
Web-site of the film: www.thecondemneddoc.com

Film crew

Scriptwriter: Mark Franchetti, Nick Read
Film director: Nick Read
Producer: Mark Franchetti
Director of photography: Nick Read
Sound director: Simon Elms, Colin Smith

Logline

The film takes viewers into the hidden world of one of Russia’s most impenetrable and remote institutions: Penal Colony 56, a maximum security prison exclusively for murderers.

Synopsis

The film takes viewers into the hidden world of one of Russia’s most impenetrable and remote institutions: Penal Colony 56, a maximum security prison exclusively for murderers. Its 260 inmates have collectively killed nearly 800 people. It is a unique and startling insight into inscrutable minds and the dark and forbidding world these people have been condemned to. This feature length documentary delves deep into the mind and soul of six main characters: The organized crime contract killer whose family believed he worked in the oil business. The hard man who has spent more than forty years behind bars. The murderer of six who, by his own admission, is too vicious to ever be let out again. The “downcast” – a killer whose hand even other murderers will not shake. The inmate who, after 20 years in jail, now fears freedom. In charge of the mad and the bad is the prison’s hard line governor, who after 26 years, has been at the penal colony longer than any inmate. In brutally frank and uncensored interviews the inmates speak of their crimes, life and death, redemption and remorselessness, freedom and families, insanity and hope.

Festival and awards
Date Festival Form of participation Award
06.2013 Moscow International Film Festival Documentary competition
12.2013 IDFA-2013 Best of Fest program
01.2014 Göteborg International Film Festival Focus on Russia


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