Portrait of Boy with Dog

What would you like to be in the future? Hitman, ma'am. Not quite the answer you would expect from a thirteen-year-old. Gosha is a precocious lad from Moscow, abandoned by everyone and put up in a children's home. Reality and fantasy are inseparable in his stories, but the filmmakers did not aspire to changing that. They let Gosha tell about his young, but already rather derailed life, while he is loafing about in the park with his dog. He despises authorities and thumbs his nose at everything. Gosha's attitude and situation tell a lot about the chaos and desperation in present-day Russia. Robin Hessman and James Longley made their PORTRAIT OF BOY WITH DOG as part of the first exchange programme between American universities and VGIK, the Russian film school. Earlier this year, the film was awarded the Oscar for best documentary by students.