Get curated editors’ picks, peeks behind the scenes, film recommendations and more.
Beautiful spies; cold femmes fatales; stooped babushkas: Western stereotypes of Russian women say more about the West than they do about anything else. But how do real Russian women view love? Against the backdrop of a harsh winter, this short documentary by the Indian director Sandhya Daisy Sundaram weaves voices ranging from young schoolgirls to a centenarian to describe the ways love evolves, reignites and surprises.
Love. Love. Love. debuted in 2014 as part of the awardwinning omnibus documentary Cinetrain: Russian Winter. An ambitious and inventive filmmaking initiative, the Cinetrain project sent 21 filmmakers from around the world to all corners of Russia to explore its culture through the spectrum of stereotypes – from mail-order brides and stalwart Ladas to heavy drinking. The project was inspired by the work of the influential Soviet Russian filmmaker Aleksandr Medvedkin (1900-89) who, in 1934, built a mobile film studio inside a train before setting out to document life across the country. As a standalone short, Love. Love. Love took home the Short Film Special Jury Award for Non-Fiction at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival.
Director: Sandhya Daisy Sundaram
Producers: Tanya Petrik, Guillaume Protsenko
video
Social psychology
What happened when a crypto scam swept over a sleepy town in the Caucasus
18 minutes
video
Human rights and justice
Surreal, dazzling visuals form an Iranian expat’s tribute to defiance back home
10 minutes
video
Love and friendship
Never marry a man you love too much, and other views on romance in Sierra Leone
5 minutes
video
History of technology
Curious singles and tech sceptics – what ‘computer dating’ looked like in 1966
6 minutes
video
Family life
The migrants missing in Mexico, and the mothers who won’t stop searching for them
21 minutes
video
Virtues and vices
Why Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Adam Smith were divided on the virtues of vanity
5 minutes
video
Childhood and adolescence
The police camp where tween girls enter a sisterhood of law and order
28 minutes
video
Meaning and the good life
Wander through the English countryside with two teens trying to make sense of the world
10 minutes
video
Love and friendship
For two brothers who rely on one another, love is a daily act of devotion
11 minutes