Filming

In 2006 Ginzburg dedicated himself to the writing and directing of Generation P and soon discovered the reluctance on the part of the Russian film industry to finance such an expensive non-genre film. Applications for government subsidy, that the majority of Russian films receive, were rejected. Television networks were skeptical. Although the movie was completed and released under the auspices of the Gorky Film Studio, Ginzburg was forced to finance the film independently and raise $7 million, which accounts for it taking five years (2006–11) to reach theaters. In the process, the production ran out of money three times, including the financial crisis of 2008. It was at the "rough cut" stage that the film was seen by Konstantin Ernst from Channel One, who immediately made decision to buy the TV premiere. A surprise hit of the spring and summer of 2011, Victor Ginzburg’s Generation P has proven wrong those who thought Pelevin’s 1999 seminal novel about the rise of the advertising industry in Post-Soviet Russia was simply unfilmable.

Cinematography

Ginzburg chose Aleksei Rodionov as cinematographer, whose work ranges from the classic war epic Come and See to the adaptation of Virginia Woolf's famous novel Orlando. Rodionov was nominated for a number of prestigious Russian awards for his work on Generation P^[3]

Musical score

Ginzburg chose composers Kaveh Cohen, Michael Nielson and composer/musician Alexander Hacke to write original music for the movie. Sergey Shnurov a legendary Russian punk rock musician who played Buddhist monk Gireev also contributed to the film's soundtrack.

Marketing

The film received partial financing and marketing support from some of the major brands that appear in it, without which this story would be impossible to tell. Ginzburg was able to get the freedom to integrate selected brands organically into the story, without the dreaded restrictions, associated with "product placement". The film's irreverent storytelling demanded unabashed satire and humor, but the historic placement and tremendous PR values compensated the risks. Both Coca-Cola and PepsiCo participated, since both had historical roles to play in epic story of the new Russia. Other brands included Snickers, American Express, Tic-Tac, Smirnoff, Range Rover, Panasonic, Nokia and Apple. Leading Russian search engine Yandex and mobile provider Megafon also played roles and contributed greatly to both the budget and the promotion of the film. Facebook has recently entered the Russian market and contributed a sizable budget to the promotion of the film in order to connect with the progressive audience in Russia. The brand cross-promo marketing value of Generation P was estimated at $2.5M and compensated greatly for marginal advertising by the distributor.

Box office

Generation P was #3 in the Russian Box Office after the first weekend with a total of $2,094,414 (Russia)on 527 screens. The film went on to gross about $4.7M in CIS and became the highest grossing Russian film of spring-summer 2011.

Critical response

Generation P has an approval rating of 75% on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 12 reviews, and an average rating of 6.60/10.^[4] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 65 out of 100, based on 7 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[5]

Huffington Post: “This is the 2001: A Space Odyssey for our time." “Virtually indescribable, visually awe-inspiring and philosophically rich, Generation P is a magnificent, surreal social satire… exhibits a stylistic genius equal to a Gilliam or Fincher in the process.”^{[6] [7]}

Wall Street Journal: "...One of the year's true cinematic sleepers...a cultural firebomb."^[8]

New York Times: “... brave, head-spinning commentary on the potency of advertising and the seduction of the soul... a delirious celebration of sloganeering and spin.”^[9]

Chicago Sun-Times: “...a cross between "Mad Men" and an acid trip. …a daring, transgressive satire...” Roger Ebert^[10]

Indiewire: “...two ferociously entertaining hours… "Generation P" is a journey to the rotten, violent, media/ power center of a country whose struggle to define its identity is corroded into a sinister advertising campaign.”^[11]

Time Out NY: “…a keyhole into the future of the entire world.”^[12]

The Hindu: “...a glorious, stimulating film that boasts some terrific, provocative imagery and splendid acting... guilty pleasure bursting with dark, outrageous material.”^[13]

Slant Magazine: “...a frenzied essayistic quality, like Jean-Luc Godard on acid.”^[14]

Variety: “A virtuoso "Brazil"-like look at what followed after capitalism won the Cold War.”^[15]

The Village Voice: "Director Victor Ginzburg's Generation P gives phantasmagoric treatment to an alternate (but not necessarily inaccurate) history of the Putin moment."^[16]

Awards and nominations

Generation P received critical acclaim at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival where it played in the Vanguard Program; at 2012 New Directors/New Films at MoMA and Lincoln Center in New York; nominated for New Voices/New Visions Grand Jury Prize at the 2012 Palm Springs International Film Festival. Other accolades include Special Jury Mention at the 2011 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival; Special Jury Prize at the 2012 Sofia International Film Festival; Best Feature Film Debut at the 2012 Almata International Film Festival; and the Audience Award at the 2011 “Sputnik Over Poland”, the biggest festival of Russian cinema outside of Russia. Generation P was the Opening Film of the 2011 London Russian Film Festival and received the "Time Out London" Critics’ Choice of the Week.