And Died Together One Day

Experimental Documentary Short / 9 Min / 2021

“They Lived Happily Ever After and Died Together One Day” is the traditional Russian fairytale ending to love stories.

Set in the remote Russian Arctic, the film explores romantic love as a cultural narrative shaped by memory, idealisation, and inherited images. Positioned between documentary and fiction, it follows the director’s parents and reflects on intimacy, partnership, and the tension between lived experience and romantic myth.

 

Screenplay, Direction, Cinematography, Editing: Pola Rader / Cast: Valentina Ivanova, Jury Ivanov / Music: Anton Saysoev

 

Selected Screenings

2022 | Nordic Film Days Lübeck, Germany

2022 | Festival del Cinema di Cefalù, Palermo, Italy

2022 | NORDEN – The Nordic Arts Festival, Schleswig, Germany

2022 | QRC.PRJCT Digital Art & Video Exhibition, Athens, Greece

2021 | Filmfest Schleswig-Holstein, Kiel, Germany

2021 | Athens Digital Arts Festival (ADAF), Athens, Greece

2021 | HER Docs Film Festival, Warsaw, Poland

2021 | MEDIAWAVE Film and Music Festival, Kiscsősz, Hungary

 

Awards

2022 | CineStar Award
Nordic Film Days Lübeck, Germany

2021 | Gesa Rautenberg Film Award
Filmfest Schleswig-Holstein, Germany

2021 | Audience Award
Filmfest Schleswig-Holstein, Germany