Genesis 2.0 (Genesis 2.0)

Christian Frei, Maxim Arbugaev

The film observes the harsh and dangerous life of so-called mammoth hunters on the remote New Siberian Islands in the far north of Siberia. The archaic landscape in which these people are looking for the tusks of extinct mammoths looks like primordial earth. There is a kind of gold rush fever in the air, because the prices for this white gold have never been so high. But the thawing permafrost unveils more than just precious ivory. Sometimes the hunters find an almost completely preserved mammoth carcass with fur, liquid blood and muscle tissue on which arctic foxes gnaw. Such finds are magnets for high-tech Russian and South Korean clone researchers in search of mammoth cells with the greatest possible degree of intact DNA. Their mission: bring the extinct woolly mammoth back to life.

Switzerland 2018, '113

DIRECTOR: Christian Frei, Maxim Arbugaev

SCENARIO: Christian Frei

CAMERA: Peter Indergand, Maxim Arbugaev, Vladimir Egorov, Patrick Lindenmaier (Picture Design), Florian Eidenbenz (Sound Design)

MONTAGE: Christian Frei, Thomas Bachmann

MUSIC: Max Richter, Edward Artemyev

PRODUCERS: Christian Frei

PRODUCTION: Christian Frei Filmproduktion, SRF Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen, ZDF/ARTE

FESTIVALS & AWARDS:

Sundance FF (2018): World Cinema Documentary Award for Cinematography
Moscow IFF (2018): Audience Award
Filmpreis Stadt Zürich (2018): Film Award City of Zurich
Seoul Eco FF (2018): Best Feature
DocUtah IDFF (2018): Best Foreign Film
CinemAmbiente (2018): Best Documentary
San Francisco Green FF (2018): Best Documentary
Lunenburger Doc Fest (2018): Feature Documentary Award
International Arctic FF: Golden Raven
Budapest IDFF (2019): Main Award
Detour Cinema del Viaggio FF (2019): Best Film

Christian Frei

Swiss director and producer Christian Frei is widely regarded as one of the most innovative and compelling voices in contemporary documentary filmmaking. He received an Academy Award nomination for War Photographer (2001) and won the World Cinema Directing Award at the Sundance Film Festival for Space Tourists (2009). Four films he produced premiered in competition at Sundance, where Genesis 2.0 (2018) was awarded the Special Jury Award for Cinematography. From the very beginning of his career, Frei established a reputation as an exacting documentarian with a keen understanding of his subjects. His films are known for their humanistic perspective and universal themes, combining visual precision with a subtle yet persistent curiosity about the human condition. As a producer, Christian Frei released Raving Iran (2016), Saudi Runway (2020) and Girl Gang (2022), directed by Susanne Regina Meures. Frei served as an Associate Lecturer in Reflection Competence at the University of St. Gallen from 2006 to 2023. From 2010 to 2022 he served as President of the Swiss Film Academy.

Maxim Arbugaev

Born in 1991 in Tiksi, on the shoreline of the Arctic Ocean, Russian director and cinematographer Maxim Arbugaev grew up to be a professional ice hockey player. Discovering his passion for filmmaking in the solitude of the New Siberian Islands, he currently studies documentary filmmaking at The Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography in Moscow. His directorial debut The Hunters (2014) earned several awards.