Alexander Sokurov's non-fiction works on DVD

Idéale Audience International has released for the first time on DVD two documentary films by the spiritual heir to Tarkovsky : SPIRITUAL VOICES and CONFESSION, showing two worlds, but one vision, that of Russian filmmaker Alexander Sokurov. He depicts human souls drowned in an overwhelming and hostile environment, unfortunate witnesses to the disintegration of the USSR ands post-perestroika liberalization.

Sokurov's filmography includes 12 feature films and about 30 non fictional works shot in video. These can be described as documentaries even though critics insist that the term can be misleading in Sokurov's case. While his style has been well-known in Russia and Japan since years, the theatrical releases of his main feature films such as Mother and Son, Taurus, Moloch or, more recently, Russian Ark, have revealed the nature of his work to the North American and European public.In the course of 2002, impressive retrospectives organized by institutions such as MoMA in New York and Cinamathèque Ontario in Toronto have contributed in making his video works more widely known.

In 2003, an extensive retrospective organized by the Torino Film Festival in Italy and the release of the Russian Ark DVD edition in several western countries have confirmed Sokurov's notoriety with film lovers.

The two titles composing this « military series » are the first DVD release of Sokurov's documentaries. The military theme is especially dear to the Director because of his father's background, and all of the edition elements have been approved by Sokurov and his team. The two discs have a total running length of nine hours (210 minutes for Confession, 327 minutes for Spiritual Voices), each boxed set is sold separately and contains two DVD videos with a DVD-ROM bonus section with Sokurov's filmography, biography and editor's notes.