SAVING NORTH
Director: J. MITCHELL JOHNSONUSA
2020, 78'
An outsider from England, the well-known photographer Richard Davies, enters this mysterious and vast region of the Russian North with the hope of documenting both the glory and the tragic demise of its rapidly disappearing Wooden Churches. Along the way, Davies finds himself putting aside his camera and joining local efforts to bring back to life an almost forgotten tiny community and its 300 year-old church.
J. Mitchell Johnson made his directorial debut in1977 with Van Cliburn Piano Competition documentary, «Contest to Carnegie Hall». In 1996, Johnson started an electronic catalogue project (RussianArchives.com) with Russia’s pre-eminent film archive at Krasnogorsk, Russia. Johnson’s most recent dramatic feature film, «World Without Waves», won Santa Fe Film Festival’s Milagra Award and premiered at Moscow’s International Film Festival. He is CEO of «Abamedia».