International Film Festival of Ottawa

Golden Voices (with The Archivists)

Expired March 16, 2021 7:00 AM
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Golden Voices (Feature Film): Two Soviet film industry voice actors must rebuild their lives after immigrating to Israel, in this bittersweet dramedy.


The Archivists (Short Film): In a dystopian future, a trio of musicians discover a degraded vinyl record and attempt to reimagine one of its songs.


About the Pairing:

While the characters of both films are trying to navigate the new and different worlds in which they find themselves, where the artists in Golden Voices find themselves feeling increasingly alienated from a new home that no longer needs their talents, the trio of musicians in The Archivists find connection and solace by giving new life to the art of a world that no longer exists, using the fragments it left behind.

For decades, Victor and Raya Frenkel were the ‘golden voices’ of the Soviet film industry, dubbing character voices for all major foreign films in the U.S.S.R. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1990, they decide to immigrate to Israel to find a better life, like thousands of their fellow Soviet Jews. Trouble is, what can they use their special skill set for, exactly, in this their new homeland?


Somehow, Raya finds her way into a profitable phone sex gig, while Victor gets involved with dubbing American films for the expat Russian community for a shady video piracy operation that soon comes under surveillance of the authorities. Pretty soon, the combination of living in a new country and these shabby, absurd new jobs will test the limits Victor’s and Raya’s longstanding marriage. Can they really integrate into this new world, and can their long marriage keep itself going?


Droll and deadpan, witty and wistful, Golden Voices is an appealing, bittersweet comedy about identity, alienation, the nature of love, and time’s passage. Winner of the Best Script award at the Black Nights Film Festival in Tallinn in 2019.


- Tom McSorley

  • Year
    2019
  • Runtime
    88 minutes
  • Language
    Russian, Hebrew (English subtitles)
  • Country
    Israel
  • Director
    Evgeny Ruman
  • Screenwriter
    Ziv Berkovich, Evgeny Ruman
  • Producer
    Leon Edery, Moshe Edery, Eitan Evan, Tami Leon, Chilik Michaeli, Avraham Pirchi
  • Cast
    Mariya Belkina, Vladimir Friedman
  • Cinematographer
    Ziv Berkovich
  • Editor
    Evgeny Ruman
  • Sound Design
    Michael Goorevich
  • Music
    Asher Goldschmidt