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Presented by Sophie Fiennes. Beautifully shot in black and white, Belovy (The Belovs) tells the story of twice-widowed Anna Belova, who lives with her brother Mikhail. A mesmerising, tragic and raucous portrait of a Russian farming family.
It is all very uncomplicated. Anna Feodorovna Belova lives in a small village near the source of the Neva River. She is twice a widow and now lives together with her brother Mikhail. Anna does the housekeeping while Mikhail drinks and philosophises about life. Occasionally, their two other brothers Vasily and Sergei pay them a visit, and the siblings drink a lot of tea, take a Russian steam bath and argue – arguments that get louder by the minute, especially when alcohol comes into play.
Sophie Fiennes has directed a number of critically acclaimed feature documentaries including, Hoover Street Revival (2002), The Pervert’s Guide to Cinema (2006), Over Your Cities Grass Will Grow (2010) and most recently The Pervert’s Guide to Ideology (2012).
Sometimes tender and other times harsh, Belovy (The Belovs) is a mesmerising, tragic and raucous portrait of a Russian farming family.
Across 10 Thursday afternoons, celebrated doc-makers from Sophie Fiennes to Penny Woolcock to Kevin Macdonald will give a personal introduction to one of the films they chose for the Sight & Sound Greatest Documentaries of all Time poll.