October 22, 2015 at 16:38“Digital age gold”: how we participated in the filming of the first Russian film about bitcoin
First documentary educational film about cryptocurrency filmed in Russia, and, above all, about Bitcoin, in which filming took part and we will .
The premiere of the film has already taken place on Youtube.
Initially, its release was planned on the Rossiya 1 television channel of the All-Russian State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company, but, in the process of filming, the television company suddenly abandoned this film. However, the story did not end there, but rather received an unexpected continuation.
While the fifth annual Bitfilm International Film Festival dedicated to Bitcoin kicks off in Berlin on October 31, those same Winklevoss brothers are actively promotinga bitcoin auction in the field of contemporary art (where you can buy works of Andy Warhol, Banksy, Jeff Koons and Damian Hirst for bitcoins), the bitcoin art market has not yet been developed in Russia, there is no creative understanding of the phenomenon of bitcoin. Against this background, the first Russian-language documentary about cryptocurrencies and bitcoin “Cryptocurrencies. Digital Age Gold ”is a significant event.
When the producer of the film “Cryptocurrencies. The Gold of the Digital Age ”Alexander Bezzubtsev found out that we want to talk about his film at Giktims, he commented on his work and spoke about the difficulties that had to be overcome, and the conclusions that were made in the process of making the film:
According to the promo of the television group “Speaks and Shows”, in this documentary “in simple language it tells about the essence of cryptocurrencies and bitcoin. About the problems and positions of bitcoin in different regions of the world. About the essence of money in general and the difference between ordinary means of payment and cryptocurrencies. ” Thus, the film was conceived as an educational project.
According to the creators, in the process of working on the film, the film crew made many conclusions for itself, both creative and organizational. The main conclusion is pretty obvious, but behind these words is the huge work of the whole team: cryptocurrencies are a difficult topic for a documentary.
Initially, the film was shot for VGTRK - this, according to the producer, explains some of the features in the approaches to the topic. However, the goals that the authors set themselves for this do not become less important: to talk about new trends in the field of money and show them against the background of the evolution of monetary relations; reveal the problem of the relationship between cryptocurrencies and the state. Despite the fact that during the creation of the film the script was rewritten several times at the direction of the All-Russian State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company, the goals of the authors did not change and were achieved. However, Bezzubtsev believes that if the film was originally an author’s project, it would be more distant from the mass audience, more specific and less understandable.
However, the main problems were ahead when the channel abandoned the film under the pretext of “irrelevance of the topic”, despite the fact that the topic of bitcoin during the filming became much more popular. There could be two ways out of this situation: to waive the rights to the footage or return the money spent to the TV company. Despite the complexity of the situation, the “Talks and Shows” team decided to preserve the rights to the film materials in every possible way, which we managed to do in August 2015 with the help of Roger Vera, whose interview is also in the film, and the support of the bitcoin community.
When preparing the film, the film crew consulted with various experts, including professional economists who said that bitcoin is experimental money or even an experimental way in finding new money that meets the requirements of the next stage of the evolution of commodity-money relations. Bitcon users from Russia are also involved in the search for new ways to achieve economic freedom; they cannot be discounted, the authors say. However, when asked how the fate of bitcoin in Russia will turn out, the authors find it difficult to answer.
The film was attended by: financial scientists and economists at the Higher School of Economics, bitcoin activists, science fiction and futurists, mining equipment manufacturers and entrepreneurs. Many background shots were taken in our office. The film contains shootings of Hashflare mining equipment , general office plans and interviews with one of the company's employees.
Bezzubtsev believes that the participation of Hashflare in the filming significantly adorned the film itself:
The canvas of the documentary narrative is interwoven with the story of an ordinary miner who, through his own experience, survived all the adventures of bitcoin in Russia, including the collapse of the Mt.Gox Exchange and government bans.
Alexander believes that this image is collective: it is similar to all miners in Russia. In the process of filming, the creative team consulted with a real Bitcoin enthusiast who built his own Bitcoin farm. It is she who is shown in the film.
The creators do not deny the possibility of the second episode of the film appearing, but this time they would like to focus not on cryptocurrencies in general, but on a narrower problem, and are interested in the opinion of readers of Giktayms, so that it could be - the producers of the project will definitely read the comments.
Finally, let’s recall another film about Bitcoin, directed by Torsten Hoffman, which at the end quotes Satoshi Nakamoto’s powerful quote:
“I’m sure that in twenty years the volume of bitcoin transactions will be either very large ... or none.”
Since the future of cryptocurrencies cannot be accurately predicted by anyone, even Satoshi himself, it remains to hope that the first Russian-language film about cryptocurrencies will not be the last, but will begin the future trend.
PS A Russian documentary about cryptocurrencies needs your help to go on the air of television channels and on large screens. You can join the many Bitcoin activists who have supported this movie.
1NnFGBwZGC4exSmcMT8yHCL3R4cpEQ4wzt
We hope that a lot of people will watch the film and it will attract new bitcoin enthusiasts - maybe even someone will want to mine with us ;-)
The premiere of the film has already taken place on Youtube.
Initially, its release was planned on the Rossiya 1 television channel of the All-Russian State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company, but, in the process of filming, the television company suddenly abandoned this film. However, the story did not end there, but rather received an unexpected continuation.
While the fifth annual Bitfilm International Film Festival dedicated to Bitcoin kicks off in Berlin on October 31, those same Winklevoss brothers are actively promotinga bitcoin auction in the field of contemporary art (where you can buy works of Andy Warhol, Banksy, Jeff Koons and Damian Hirst for bitcoins), the bitcoin art market has not yet been developed in Russia, there is no creative understanding of the phenomenon of bitcoin. Against this background, the first Russian-language documentary about cryptocurrencies and bitcoin “Cryptocurrencies. Digital Age Gold ”is a significant event.
When the producer of the film “Cryptocurrencies. The Gold of the Digital Age ”Alexander Bezzubtsev found out that we want to talk about his film at Giktims, he commented on his work and spoke about the difficulties that had to be overcome, and the conclusions that were made in the process of making the film:
In general, we were able to do, as I consider it, objective work. Not a laudatory ode, not a negative film (they say, beware of messing with bitcoin and cryptocurrencies), but the real history of cryptocurrencies. What exactly - see in the movie. I can only say one thing: this film is not ashamed to show. And he will explain to many who are not familiar with the topic of cryptocurrencies.
According to the promo of the television group “Speaks and Shows”, in this documentary “in simple language it tells about the essence of cryptocurrencies and bitcoin. About the problems and positions of bitcoin in different regions of the world. About the essence of money in general and the difference between ordinary means of payment and cryptocurrencies. ” Thus, the film was conceived as an educational project.
According to the creators, in the process of working on the film, the film crew made many conclusions for itself, both creative and organizational. The main conclusion is pretty obvious, but behind these words is the huge work of the whole team: cryptocurrencies are a difficult topic for a documentary.
Initially, the film was shot for VGTRK - this, according to the producer, explains some of the features in the approaches to the topic. However, the goals that the authors set themselves for this do not become less important: to talk about new trends in the field of money and show them against the background of the evolution of monetary relations; reveal the problem of the relationship between cryptocurrencies and the state. Despite the fact that during the creation of the film the script was rewritten several times at the direction of the All-Russian State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company, the goals of the authors did not change and were achieved. However, Bezzubtsev believes that if the film was originally an author’s project, it would be more distant from the mass audience, more specific and less understandable.
However, the main problems were ahead when the channel abandoned the film under the pretext of “irrelevance of the topic”, despite the fact that the topic of bitcoin during the filming became much more popular. There could be two ways out of this situation: to waive the rights to the footage or return the money spent to the TV company. Despite the complexity of the situation, the “Talks and Shows” team decided to preserve the rights to the film materials in every possible way, which we managed to do in August 2015 with the help of Roger Vera, whose interview is also in the film, and the support of the bitcoin community.
When preparing the film, the film crew consulted with various experts, including professional economists who said that bitcoin is experimental money or even an experimental way in finding new money that meets the requirements of the next stage of the evolution of commodity-money relations. Bitcon users from Russia are also involved in the search for new ways to achieve economic freedom; they cannot be discounted, the authors say. However, when asked how the fate of bitcoin in Russia will turn out, the authors find it difficult to answer.
The film was attended by: financial scientists and economists at the Higher School of Economics, bitcoin activists, science fiction and futurists, mining equipment manufacturers and entrepreneurs. Many background shots were taken in our office. The film contains shootings of Hashflare mining equipment , general office plans and interviews with one of the company's employees.
Bezzubtsev believes that the participation of Hashflare in the filming significantly adorned the film itself:
It would be difficult to talk about bitcoin and not talk about mining. I will tell more precisely. It was not worth getting around this topic. We met with representatives of Hashflare at an event in Moscow in the spring of 2014. We found out about the organization and agreed on a shoot. Personally, we did not go to Tallinn. Found on the operator’s place and made a survey for us. Definitely, we ourselves would have shot better. But this is not a matter of professionalism, but of a deeper understanding of what we need for a picture in a film. Impressions from communication are only the most positive. And in general, the very thing that the guys are doing is very interesting! I really wanted to tell about this and show in the film.
The canvas of the documentary narrative is interwoven with the story of an ordinary miner who, through his own experience, survived all the adventures of bitcoin in Russia, including the collapse of the Mt.Gox Exchange and government bans.
Alexander believes that this image is collective: it is similar to all miners in Russia. In the process of filming, the creative team consulted with a real Bitcoin enthusiast who built his own Bitcoin farm. It is she who is shown in the film.
The creators do not deny the possibility of the second episode of the film appearing, but this time they would like to focus not on cryptocurrencies in general, but on a narrower problem, and are interested in the opinion of readers of Giktayms, so that it could be - the producers of the project will definitely read the comments.
Finally, let’s recall another film about Bitcoin, directed by Torsten Hoffman, which at the end quotes Satoshi Nakamoto’s powerful quote:
“I’m sure that in twenty years the volume of bitcoin transactions will be either very large ... or none.”
Since the future of cryptocurrencies cannot be accurately predicted by anyone, even Satoshi himself, it remains to hope that the first Russian-language film about cryptocurrencies will not be the last, but will begin the future trend.
PS A Russian documentary about cryptocurrencies needs your help to go on the air of television channels and on large screens. You can join the many Bitcoin activists who have supported this movie.
1NnFGBwZGC4exSmcMT8yHCL3R4cpEQ4wzt
We hope that a lot of people will watch the film and it will attract new bitcoin enthusiasts - maybe even someone will want to mine with us ;-)