Big Village Lights

Fedya is 20 years old. He works as a projectionist in a provincial cinema called "Rodina" (Motherland), and tries in vain to pull in spectators. When the local authorities decide to transform the "Rodina" into a shop, there is only one way out: to make a successful film and thus rescue the cinema! But what is required to get a good box office? Of course, a star! Desperate times demand desperate measures, so the children kidnap a celebrity from a passing train. And this is not just any star, but Dmitri Diuzhev! Well, maybe he does not exactly burn with the desire to be filmed here, but it doesn't matter as long as they have enough ropes, gags and sleeping tablets. Then here is a desperate producer who has just been demobbed, a philosophizing wedding photographer and the karate-practicing actress Zhenya, with whom Fedya is secretly in love.

Directed by Ilya Uchitel, Big Village Lights leans on a strong ensemble — Dmitriy Dyuzhev, Kirill Frolov, Anastasiya Mytrazhik — to carry a story that balances spectacle with character.

The film landed with audiences for its craft and performances, and remains one of the most talked-about comedy titles of 2016.