Apart from ambient sound, the world of The Tribe is silent: the film is set at an institute for the deaf in Kiev - director Miroslav Slaboshpytskiy doesn't even subtitle the sign language used by his actors. Viewers must figure out the plot on the basis of the actors' body language - and this works remarkably well. The director himself compares The Tribe to abstract dance and Japanese Kabuki theatre.
Slaboshpytskiy follows Sergei, a new pupil at the deaf institute. He undergoes cruel rites of initiation and becomes part of 'the Tribe', a gang of youths who pick pockets and prostitute other pupils. Sergei climbs up the hierarchy to pimp, but then falls in love with one of the girls - the beginning of a whole load of trouble.
Slaboshpytskiy's ode to silent film is shot in long takes, at times from a fixed camera position, but also with Steadicam shots that follow the deaf amateur actors fluidly. Not exactly delicate, but highly fascinating. With Big Talk on Sat 24-1 in the theatre of Oude Luxor.
- Director
- Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy
- Country of production
- Ukraine
- Year
- 2014
- Festival Edition
- IFFR 2015
- Length
- 130'
- Medium
- DCP
- Original title
- Plemya
- Language
- no dialogue
- Producers
- Valentyn Vasyanovych, Iya Myslytska
- Production Company
- Garmata Film Production
- Sales
- Alpha Violet
- Screenplay
- Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy
- Cinematography
- Valentyn Vasyanovych
- Editor
- Valentyn Vasyanovych
- Production Design
- Vlad Odudenko
- Sound Design
- Sergiy Stepanskiy
- Cast
- Grigoriy Fesenko, Yana Novikova
- Local Distributor
- Amstelfilm
- Website
- http://amstelfilm.nl/the-tribe