Muzzled by the increasingly autocratic regime of the “Depression Federation”, 16-year-old Marusya decides to join her generations’ suicide statistics by year’s end. Then she meets Kimi, and a love story begins between the two millennials caught in the undertow of their oppressive government.
Together, Marusya and Kimi film the euphoria, anxiety and misery of their youth, burning the candle at both ends, fuelled by drugs and music. When Kimi’s addiction threatens to make him fade away forever, Marusya’s camera becomes her last chance to save the fragile soul.
Filmed over the course of 12 years, How to Save a Dead Friend is a personal cry from the heart, and a message from a silenced generation. It is an unbreakable love story existing in a destructible world.
"This documentary memoir cum love letter is moving, harrowing and, despite everything, hopeful; above all, it is fearsomely candid." —Jonathan Romney, Screendaily
"Raw and moving, Marusya Syroechkovskaya's documentary describes growing up in 21st-century Russia, but is so intimate and honest that it would probably work just as well in a vacuum." —Vladan Petkovic, Cineuropa
"Coming from the inside, and from a generation Putin is seeking to silence and then refashion to his imperialist image, How to Save A Dead Friend [...] is essential viewing for those seeking an intimate understanding of Russian society from within." —Clarence Tsui, The Film Verdict
