The Man Who Sings

(The Man Who Sings) Director: Peter Rippl, D - RUS, 2008, Russian version / English subtitles, 100 min

Formed a decade ago in St. Petersburg, Leningrad is Russia's most notorious and most celebrated band, and its charismatic frontman Sergey "Shnur" Shnurov is the country's biggest working-class hero. Backed by a 14-piece ska/punk army and a philosophy that "there is nothing more interesting than ordinary people," Shnurov sings songs of drinking, screwing, struggling and surviving with wicked humor, booze-fueled hope and expressive obscenity. Packed with rollicking live footage, The Man Who Sings documents Shnurov and his band's uncompromising approach to music, stardom and life in today's Russia.

The partner of the screening is the International Music Films Festival Music On Film/Film On Music.