Oleg Mavromatti is an artist and filmmaker who makes films since 1989. In 1995 Mavromatti founded the independent film union SUPERNOVA, which manifested as a fortress of Moscow’s radical cinema. Some films produced within the movement like “The Green Elephant” (1999) and “Bastards” (2000) became cult movies at that time and a decade later they inspired the appearance of Internet communities that create and share fan memes based on these films daily. Mavromatti’s unique filmmaking and directing style called “directed improvisation” aiming at extreme realism is also a continuation of his work as a performance artist. He is a prominent representative of the radical performance art scene in 1990s Moscow. He has been a member of legendary Moscow performance art groups from the 1990s like “Expropriation of the Territory of Art” and NECEZIUDIK.
Mavromatti left Russia in 2000 and since then he lives in Bulgaria and New York, where he continues making films and art. In Bulgaria, together with artist and filmmaker Boryana Rossa he established the international art collective ULTRAFUTURO, which focuses on the social, political, and ethical impacts of technology on contemporary society. Works by the group have been shown at prestigious museums and galleries such as Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; Akademie der Kunste, Berlin; Exit Art, New York; Feldman Gallery, NY; GARAGE Museum, Moscow; Sofia Arsenal – Museum of Contemporary Art; Sofia Art Gallery and at art biennials such as Biennial for Electronic Art, Perth (BEAP); 5th Thessaloniki Biennial; 8th Varna Biennial; 1st Moscow Biennial; 2018 Beijing Biennial of Media Arts etc.
His artwork and films have been featured in numerous publications in monographs such as “Russian Actionism 1990-2000”( Rosyisky actionism 1990-2000 ) and prestigious art and film journals like “Art in America,” Art of Cinema (“Iskusstvo kino”), Seans, Moscow Art Magazine etc. His films have been shown at important international festivals such as Rotterdam International Film Festival; ArtDocFest; Jihlava International Film Festival; Moscow International Film Festival; DocLisboa; QueerLisboa;
Munich International Film Festival; New Horizons, Wroclaw, Poland; Syracuse International Film Festival, Go East International Film Festival,
Sofia International Film Fest etc. He has been named among the fifty most influential people in Russian cinema for the last ten years by the respected Colta.ru in 2019. His films are often highly rated in the yearly charts for best cinema by respected film journals and online media such as Radio Freedom, Lenta.ru, Kinopoisk etc.
In 2014 Mavromatti and his partner Boryana Rossa started a new trajectory in their filmmaking, which they call post-cinema. It incorporates the social and moving image production phenomena that appeared as a result of online social networking and video blogging. The first film in this direction has been “No Place for Fools,” which is entirely made of YouTube videos. It won the jury award at the prestigious ArtDocFest, Moscow for his film “Monkey Ostrich and Grave” 2017 and the award for best documentary at the film festival Dvizenie, Omsk, 2015 for the film “No Place for Fools” 2014.
FILMOGRAPHY
Director: Pancake Machine (2020); Semiconductor (2018); Monkey Ostrich and Grave (2017); No Place for Fools (2014), Blind Spot (2007), ULTRAFUTURO Manifest (2005), The Rats are Leaving the Shop (2002), Naj-goliamoto kiyfte v sveta / The Biggest Meatball in the World (2001), X Mask (2000) Viblyadki / Bastards (2000), Holst/maslo / Oil on Canvas (2000), Tainaya estetika marsianskih shpionov / The Secret Aesthetic of the Martian Spies, 1,2, 3. (1997-1999), Ne istite etu peredachu v programme / Don’t Look for This Show in the Programme (1995), Odinadtsat pisem vnutr / Eleven Internal Letters (1995), Chervi Benettona / Benetton Worms (1989).
Producer: Zeleniy slonik / The Green Elephant (1999), Kokki begustiy doctor / Кokki the Running Doctor (1998).
Actor: Kokki begustiy doctor / Кokki the Running Doctor (1998); Holst/maslo / Oil on Canvas (2000); The Juche Idea (2010); The Inner Trotsky Child Series (2014).