Dovlatov charts six days in the life of a brilliant, ironic writer who saw far beyond the rigid limits of 70s Soviet Russia. Sergei Dovlatov fought to preserve his own talent and decency with poet and writer Joseph Brodsky, while watching his artist friends got crushed by the iron-willed state machinery.
“Where is the human soul? Is it in the heart? In the brain? Or maybe elsewhere?”, wonders an old doctor who has spent his life working at a psychiatric hospital in the Siberian countryside. The place, which was inaccessible for film crews, can be shown thanks to its residents, some of whom spent several decades at the hospital. This discreet and, at the same time, insightful observation of the patients’ daily lives transforms into meditation on the human nature, which is not entirely penetrable.
A father and his two teenage sons travel to a small mountain cabin for a male bonding adventure. When a lost tourist arrives at the cabin, their male-bonding outing turns into a struggle for survival.
When John returns home to his father after serving time in prison, he is looking forward to starting his life afresh. However, in the local community his crime is neither forgotten nor forgiven.
Anna, a young novitiate in 1960s Poland, is on the verge of taking her vows when she discovers a family secret dating back to the years of the German occupation.
What are the reasons underlying the human drive toward self-destruction? What is the wellhead of motivation for a person who chooses a life involving perpetual struggle, self-harm and risking their health? Is the road of physical pain an escape route from other kinds of pain? And finally, what lies at the roots of the contemporary fascination with risk and aggression? "Arena" is a film project about contemporary games, arenas and gladiators.
