Associate Professor of the Department of Sound Production of St. Petersburg State University of Film and Television becomes a laureate of the Nika Russian Film Award

Polina Volynkina won the Nika Film Award. The sound designer received the main prize from the Russian Academy of Cinema Arts and Science for her work on Andrei Konchalovsky's film Dear Comrades!.

The official award ceremony of the Nika national film prizes, established by the Russian Academy of Cinema Arts and Science, took place on April 25, 2021. The films, that had been selected in 2019 and 2020, participated in the nominations.

The film tells the story of the Soviet demonstration of workers at the main plant of a town. People are demanding lower food prices and higher wages. When the workers from the other factories join the strike, the government commission decides to bring the army into the town, and in a matter of hours, there is a live ammunition shooting in the streets. The Communist Party committee employee Lyudmila, who sincerely believes that she is building a communist society and resents the factory troublemakers' behavior, is a key character. However, when her teenage daughter disappears at the massacre in the town square, her worldview of a loyal communist collapses overnight.

Sound designer Stepan Bogdanov presented the award. Polina Volynkina thanked her team, family, masters and university, which gave her a love for the profession:

- I cannot believe it is all real! Many thanks to the director Andrei Konchalovsky for entrusting me his amazing films. Special thanks to the team and, in particular, to my colleague, a St. Petersburg State University of Film and Television graduate Marina Sheinman. I could not have done it without you. Well, and of course, thanks a lot to my masters, Boris Andreev and Nina Dvorko, and to my entire university. I believe that this award is a great motivation not only for me, but also for my students, for a new generation of sound designers. At such moments, I want to say that the main thing is to do what you love, believe in yourself, spare no effort and time, and then prizes and awards will be a logical continuation!