Veniamin, a teenager in the midst of a mystical crisis, has his mother, schoolmates and entire high school turned upside down by his questions.

- Can girls go to their swimming classes in bikinis?
- Does sex education have a place in school?
- Should the theory of evolution be taught as part of the Natural Sciences?

The adults are soon overwhelmed by the certitudes of the youngster who swears only by Scripture. No one but Elena, his biology teacher, will alone challenge him on his own ground.

Direction: Kirill Serebrennikov

Script: Kirill Serebrennikov

Production: Ilya Stewart, Ilya Stewart

Cinematography: Vladislav Opelyants

Editing: Yury Karikh

Production Design: Ekaterina Scheglova

Costume Design: Tatyana Dolmatovskaya

Sound: Boris Voit

Original Score: Ilya Demutsky

Cast: Petr Skvortsov

Original Title: УЧЕНИК (UCHENIK)

Original Language: Russian

Film Production Country: Russia

Website: http://www.widemanagement.com/#!the-student/vbfq7

Biography of the Director/s
Born in 1969 in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, the theatre, television and film director Kirill Serebrennikov has been the Artistic Director of the Gogol Centre since 2012.
He staged his first play when he was still a student. In 1992, he graduated from Rostov State University’s physics department with honours.
In 2008, he formed an experimental actor-director class at the Moscow Art Theatre School.
In 2012, the class transformed into Studio Seven, now a full-time Gogol Centre resident.
From 2011 to 2014, Kirill was the Artistic Director of the Platform project at the Winzavod Centre for Contemporary Art and he currently lives in Moscow. In 2015, the Gogol Centre represented at the Avignon Festival the play «The Idiots», staged by Kirill Serebrennikov. This year he will present «Dead Souls», inspired by the Nikolaï Gogol novel.

Filmography of the Director/s
2012 – BETRAYAL
2009 – SHORT CIRCUIT, segment “Shrimp’s Kiss”
2008 – YURIEV DEN
2004 – RAGIN
2006 – PLAYING THE VICTIM
2003 – BED STORIES
2002 – THE DIARY OF A MURDERER
1998 – THE UNDRESSED
1998 – MYSTERIES OF THE STORM
1998 – THE SWALLOW

Awards Won
Kinotavr Open Russian FF: Best Direction
Cannes FF, Un certain regard: François Chalet Prize

World Sales:
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