Kvadrat is a 2013 documentary feature film written, co-produced, and directed by Anatoly Ivanov. The film explores the realities of techno DJing,FilmStarts.de Kvadrat in particular the experiences of Russian DJ Andrey Pushkarev. Filmed as a hybrid between a road-movie and a music video, Kvadrat depicts the festive atmosphere of techno night clubs, and reveals aspects of this profession less commonly portrayed.Pulse Radio Kvadrat Documentary Shows The Realities Of Techno DJing, January 31, 2014 Shot in Switzerland, France, Hungary, Romania and Russia, the film omits the typical documentary elements: there are no interviews, no explanatory voice-over, facts or data is provided. It gives priority to the soundtrack of techno music, leaving the detailed interpretation to the viewer.Kvadrat original synopsis from February 2011 June 23, 2014
Plot
DJ Andrey Pushkarev wakes up in his Moscow apartment, packs his vinyl records into a rolling bag and leaves for Domodedovo airport, to fly to Zurich. Upon arriving, he is greeted by the promoter of the Supermarket club. After falling asleep in the hotel, he is suddenly awakened by the alarm, resulting in a prolonged moment of disorientation. This disorientation, indicative of severe sleep deprivation, is visually emphasized as he stares blankly into the camera, capturing the exhaustion and mental fatigue inherent in the DJing profession. He finally gathers his wits, dresses up, and leaves for the job in the middle of the night. After finishing his DJ set, he leaves the club to take the train to Geneva. While en route, instead of admiring the Alpine scenery, he sleeps.
After a short visit to a friend in Geneva (whether male or female is not shown), he takes the plane back to Moscow. He thus completes the first "story loop", repeated with slight variations throughout the entire film, a metaphor on techno music loops.
In his flat in Moscow, after quickly replying to booking requests on Skype, he goes through his huge collection of vinyl techno records to prepare his next performances. A quick shave and he leaves to take a taxi for the railway station, where he boards a train for Saint Petersburg.
Once in Saint Petersburg, he waits at a friend's flat, while listening to tracks on Beatport. After nightfall, he is driven to Barakobamabar, where he plays a set. At dawn, his friends accompany him to the metro, one of them barely walking from too much drink. Pushkarev then takes the metro back to the train station, using a short-cut through Saint Petersburg down-town.
Back in Moscow, and back to the beginning of the story loop, he visits his friends and while drinking tea, debates his dream of playing techno during the day and bringing the techno club industry more in line with a healthy lifestyle.
After a short metro trip, he plays in a Moscow club Mir, after which he flies out to Geneva, again. There, he takes the same train as previously, looping in the other direction, to Olten via Bern. Greeted by the club promoter, he goes directly to the local club Terminus, where technical problems hamper his performance. The Technics SL-1210 turntable refuses to switch the playback speed from 45 rpm to 33 rpm. Later, a club technician bumps his elbow into the tonearm. Tired, Pushkarev takes a cab to the hotel, where he checks his in-coming booking requests on the notebook computer.
In the morning, he takes the train to Lausanne where he changes for a TGV to Paris. After a performance at the 4 Éléments bar, he continues his trip to the SWISS hub in Zurich, where he boards a flight to Budapest.
The local crew transport him from Budapest to Kecel, where he plays at the club Korona to a massive audience. Asleep in the car back to Budapest, he misses the decorated down-town and gets only a couple of hours to repack at the hotel, before leaving again for the airport, restarting the loop.
He flies back to the Zurich hub, where he changes for a flight to Bucharest.
Picked-up at the airport, he is driven to Craiova, where he plays at club Krypton without any rest.
The next day, he sleeps in the car during a huge snowstorm of 2012, one of the deadliest in Romania's history, to arrive in Cluj-Napoca’s club Midi, where he plays a high-energy DJ set. The crowd responds enthusiastically, cheering, jumping, and raising their hands as the music drives the atmosphere to a peak... only to cut to the DJ waking up in the same battered BMW driving again through winter.
Finally, he arrives at the seaside, stares at the waves and the sunset and silently walks away, leaving his bag of vinyls on the beach.
Production
Because of budget restrictions, Anatoly Ivanov took on multiple roles, including writer, co-producer, director, cinematographer, editor, and sound engineer.Kvadrat director’s thoughts about his film 8 July 2014
Development
Anatoly Ivanov formed an idea for Kvadrat after completing an impromptu 30-minute short in Cantonese in February 2011 about a private Hong Kong martial arts event. He suggested to shoot a realistic DJing documentary to Andrey Pushkarev,Le Monde Blogs Un Interview d’Anatoly IVANOV | Artiste Autodidacte et Radical, par Peter Gabor, October 15, 2014 when the two met in the director's Paris flat shortly afterwards.Музыка в «Квадрате» – Маргарита Лысенко, October 30, 2013
Anatoly Ivanov teamed up with Yury Rysev to privately finance the project, initially miscalculating the total required by a factor of 5. A stringent cost-cutting approach enabled the feature to be produced across 5 countries on a limited budget of €100 000. The project was made possible by the dedication of the crew, who volunteered their time and effort, working for several years without financial compensation.MEOKO Press Exclusive Interview with Andrey Pushkarev and Anatoly Ivanov - Silence in Music & the Kvadrat Movie, November 6, 2014
The director discussed his producer debut mistakes and the measures implemented during various Q&A sessions, including at the Moscow Center of Documentary Film and with students at the Moscow Film School.
Locations
Kvadrat was filmed exclusively on locationKvadrat (en) - end-titles in:
Switzerland Zurich Geneva Olten France Paris Marseille Hungary Budapest Kecel Romania Bucharest Craiova Cluj-Napoca Russia Moscow Saint Petersburg Izhevsk, Udmurtia Votkinsk, Udmurtia Stepanovo, Udmurtia
And during regular flights by SWISS and Izhavia, train journeys by SBB CFF FFS, RZD, and on public transport in Geneva's TPG, Saint Petersburg Metro and Moscow Metro.
Cinematography
Principal photography began on August 27, 2011, ended on July 16, 2012, and lasted 55 days (if counting the days when the camera was rolling).
The film was shot in the spherical 1080p HD format using a pair of Canon 1D mark IV camerasShot on What? – Kvadrat (2013) and just two Canon still-photography lenses. Issue 2014-01, page 16
Anatoly Ivanov was the only crew to shoot video and record sound for the film, carrying all the cinema equipment on himself.The DJ’s Journey Digital Media World, March 13, 2014 Therefore, he chose not to use dollies, cranes, jibs, steadicams, tripods, sliders or car mounts, and filmed Kvadrat exclusively with a handheld rig.Kvadrat Gear – a feature documentary about the filming of Kvadrat, by Anatoly Ivanov No additional lighting was used.
Editing and post-production
Editing in Final Cut Pro X, post-production started immediately after the wrap of principal photography. It took 1 year in Geneva and was delayed by technical problems, such as frame-by-frame manual removal of hot pixels on the footage from the cameras and inadequate computer hardware (a 2011 MacBook Pro and a pair of Sony MDR7506 headphones).
Music
The film features 35 tracksKvadrat official track list played by DJ Pushkarev, representing various subgenres of techno music, ranging from deep house to dub techno through minimal techno and electro:
"Abyss" by Manoo – Deeply Rooted House, 2008 "Direct" by Kris Wadsworth – NRK Sound Division, 2009 "La Grippe (Helly Larson Remix)" by George Soliis – Wasabi, 2011 "Air" by Havantepe – Styrax Leaves, 2007 "Mauna Loa" by Mick Rubin – Musik Gewinnt Freunde, 2009 "Soul Sounds (Freestyle Man Original Dope Remix)" by Sasse – Moodmusic, 2005 "Tammer (David Duriez Remix From Da Vault)" by Phonogenic – 20:20 Vision, 2000 "Track B1" by Slowhouse Two – Slowhouse Recordings, 2008 "Post" by Claro Intelecto – Modern Love, 2011 "Acid Face" by Scott Findley – Iron Box Music, 2003 "Warriors" by Two Armadillos – Secretsundaze Music, 2007 "Grand Theft Vinyl (JV Mix)" by Green Thumb vs JV – So Sound Recordings, 2004 "Tobacco (Alveol Mix)" by Kiano Below Bangkok – Only Good Shit Records, 2011 "When The Dark Calls" by Pop Out and Play – Alola, 2001 "Circular Motion (Vivid)" by Christian Linder – Phono Elements, 2002 "Blacktro (Demo 1)" by Jerome Sydenham and Joe Claussell – UK Promotions, 2007 "Green Man" by Mr. Bizz – Deepindub.org, 2008 "Tahiti" by Ben Rourke – Stuga Musik, 2011 "Willpower" by Joshua Collins – Prolekult, 2002 "Lullaby For Rastko (Herb LF Remix)" by Petkovski – Farside, 2011 "Agape Dub" by Luke Hess – Modelisme Records, 2009 "Glacial Valley" by Makam – Pariter, 2011 "The Time" by Vizar – Jato Unit Analog, 2011 "Libido" by Sean Palm and Charlie Mo – Railyard Recordings, 2008 "Ahck (Jichael Mackson Remix)" by Minilogue – Wir, 2007 "Altered State (Artificial Remix)" by Jason Vasilas – Tangent Beats, 2004 "Modern Times (Dub Mix)" by Hatikvah – Baalsaal, 2009 "That Day (Loudeast Black Label Remix)" by DJ Grobas – Thrasher Home Recordings, 2004 "The Hills (John Selway Dub)" by Filippo Mancinelli and Allen May – Darkroom Dubs, 2011 "Running Man" by Petar Dundov – Music Man Records, 2007 "Ice" by Monolake – Imbalance Computer Music, 2000 "Lucky Punch" by Peter Dildo – Trackdown Records, 2006 "Live Jam 1" by Rhauder – Polymorph, 2011 "Can U Hear Shapes?" by Pop Out and Play – Alola, 2001 "Be No-One" by Charles Webster – Statra Recordings, 2001
Themes
Besides the obvious facade of DJ work seen in a nightclub, Kvadrat explores the lesser-known themesBerlin Mitte Institut Kvadrat – Film über das Jetsetting von Techno-DJs, April 8, 2014 of DJ travel, fatigue, sleep deprivation, self-destruction, absurdity, loneliness,Mixing.dj Kvadrat: Russian road-movie by the side of Andrey Pushkarev, October 29, 2013 purpose of art and stereotypes of the artist. Unlike in mainstream films such as Berlin Calling or Basquiat, these topics are presented from a viewpoint of a normal, slightly overweight and out-of-shape individual, who does not compensate nor suffer from substance abuse and does his job devoid of female attention.
Genre
Anatoly Ivanov combined elements of a road movie and a music video, creating a modern techno musical with minimal dialogue.Diffus Mag Reingeschaut, May 12, 2014 He intentionally applied the aesthetics of fiction films to non-fiction footage. By avoiding documentary clichés, Ivanov sought to create a third category that lies between fiction and documentary genres.
In Kvadrat, fiction techniques such as multiple takes and separate, non-synced audio-video recording are employed. Complex VFX, sound design ( ADR, foley...) are used alongside exhibition, metaphors, and symbolism to convey ideas, evoke emotions, and pose questions implicitly. This approach contrasts with traditional documentary methods, which often rely on exposition, staged interviews, and explanatory voice-over to communicate answers explicitly. However, the film retains single video takes for more complex scenes, such as Airbus passenger aircraft landings and crowd dancing in nightclubs.
Release