The characters in the documentary “Three Days of Life in the Lake Lodges” are unusual people. Their fate brought them from various parts of the country into the remote, pristine locations in the Altai Mountains, to the Teletskoye Lake. These families live and work already for decades in the Altai Nature Reserve, one of the oldest and largest in Russia. The outposts, natural reserve lodges, were arranged along the shores of Teletskoye Lake almost 90 years ago. They do not have road access, the lodges are surrounded by high mountains with dense taiga and rapid rivers as well as bottomless lake expanses. The landscape here is gorgeous, but life is not easy. The people here found themselves isolated from the wider world in the period between seasons. Stormy winds and unstable ice make transportation along the lake life-threatening from late autumn till mid spring. The lodges’ inhabitants live autonomously, with no convenient stores, doctors, stable communications, high-speed internet, without all those utilities, common for urban dwellers. One may wonder, how they survive. However they not only survive but have found their happiness here. The people of the wildlife area learned how to become a sort of jack of all trades. They have to rely only on themselves, have a lot of knowledge and skills. They have to move across long distances throughout taiga and mountains, have to learn curative properties of plants, animal habits, recognize birds voices and foiling. They have to be prepared when meet a bear, wolf or boar. They have to manage household to feed their families all year round, have to drive a snow vehicle and a motor boat. They have to be able to capture perfect images of animal life and unique nature events, have to be good story tellers and share their knowledge about the natural reserve with other people. They have to love their work and love nature.
The viewers will enjoy the landscapes of Teletskoye Lake and pristine taiga from a bird’s eye view, will hear the story about the people who found each other in the remote taiga lodge of Agafya Lykova, the ancress, will get to know the story of the saved bear cub named Masha, will see the antiques, found in a rock shelter, as well as ancient stone sculptures that witnessed the bygone eras.
Karatash, Baigazan, Kamgan, Korbu, Kokshi, Chelyush, Bele, Chiri. The natural reserve lodges carefully guard the “Golden Lake”. Their role in preserving Siberian wildlife is invaluable.
Director and Cameraman: Ivan Usanov
Narrative by: Svetlana Usanova
Music by: Alexander Trifonov
Narrator: Vasily Romanov
Video production: +79139982234