Greatness of Absence

Directed by Nikita Dobrynin

What does an actor leave behind? That is the question that Alla Demidova asks herself, the audience, the eternity. She went and lived through the tragedies by Shakespeare, Electra, Phaedra, Medea. Where can one go henceforth? If only become a phantom, an image, something eternal, an enduring reflection of this world in the mirror. This film is a journey away from our reality to an imaginary universe, to reflections, images, phantoms. It starts with an exposition devoted to Alla Demidova at the St. Petersburg Museum of Theatre and Music Art. But it does not only document the space; thanks to Demidova's speech it turns into a retrospective of her work, the parts she played, an explication of her approach to acting.