Short Films

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Best of The Fests

CONVENIENCE STORE
PRODUKTY 24

• Director: Michael Borodin
• RUSSIA, SLOVENIA, TURKEY / 2021 / DCP / Colour / 106’ / Uzbek,  Russian; Turkish, English s.t.

• Screenplay: Michael Borodin
• Director of Photography: Ekaterina Smolina
• Editing: Alexandra Putsyato
• Music: Aleksey Polyakov
• Cast: Zukhara Sanzysbay, Lyudmila Vasilyeva, Tolibzhon Suleimanov, Nargiz Abdullaeva, Asel Tuytubaeva
• Producer: Artem Vasilyev, Aleš Pavlin, Andrej Štritof, Diloy Gülün
• Production Co.: Metre Films, Perfo Production, Karma Films
• World Sales: Heretic Outreach

2022 Berlin CICAE Award – Panorama

Mukhabbat lives and toils in a typical convenience store on the outskirts of Moscow. Just like other illegal migrants in the store she does not get a single ruble for her work and is not allowed to take even a short break. Mukhabbat puts an end to this life when the owner of the store abducts her newborn son. Overcoming despair and fear, Mukhabbat wins back her freedom, saves the others, and is forced to leave Russia. Back at home, in Uzbekistan, Mukhabbat starts fighting to get her child back at any cost.

Based on true events so-called 'Golyanovo slaves,' which came to light in 2016, Convenience Store captures the terrible aspects of modern slavery in a visceral blend of realism and grand cinematography. Tashkent-born Michael Borodin moved to Moscow, where he lived and worked as a migrant worker before enrolling in a film school. Convenience Store is his debut feature film.

This film was a Meetings on the Bridge participant.