Bill Morrison’s The Village Detective: A Song Cycle gets a trailer and a release date

During the summer of 2016, a fishing boat off the shores of Iceland made a most curious catch: four reels of 35mm film, seemingly of Soviet provenance. Unlike the film find explored in director Bill Morrison’s previous film, Dawson City: Frozen Time, it turned out this discovery wasn’t a lost work of major importance, but an incomplete print of a popular comedy starring beloved Russian actor Mihail Žarov. Does that mean it has no value? Morrison thought not. To him, the heavily water-damaged print, and the way it surfaced, could be seen as a fitting reflection on the life of Žarov, who loved this role so much that he even co-directed a sequel to it.

Morrison uses the story as a jumping-off point for his latest meditation on cinema’s past, offering a journey into Soviet history and film accompanied by a gorgeous score by Pulitzer and Grammy-winning composer David Lang.

The film opens in New York cinemas on 22nd September 2021.

Thank you for supporting Live for Films (LFF) when you order using the link below. As an Amazon Associate LFF earns from qualifying purchases. If you are using an adblocker you will not see the link.