Five shorts by five prominent Russian filmmakers explore the idea of a unique individual experience in a project produced by 5IVE React and METRAFILMS.

An auteur making a commercial is hardly a fresh concept. There are, of course, the well known series of BMW mini-movies (Guy Ritchie , Tony Scott) and the Nike ads (Terry Gilliam, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Ritchie again). David Lynch, as well, has a plethora of commercials, including one for Clear Blue Easy Pregnancy Test. All of those masterfully executed spots have one thing in common: the products – cars, shoes, gear, pregnancy tests – are front and center. They are clearly commercial, and while delivering a quality product, the use of cinematic talent is a pure gimmick.

In creating its Russian campaign for 5 Gum, Wrigley’s, in collaboration with METRAFILMS, took a decidedly different approach. They went for a non-commercial cinematic experiment, calling on five prominent Russian directors and forgoing product placement altogether. Actually, the Experiment 5IVE shorts look less like advertising than postmortem promos for Polaroid.



The official 5 Gum Web page boasts its two important features: one is the unique experience of chewing 5 Gum; the other is its slick black envelope packaging. These two features were the starting point for Experiment 5IVE. All five shorts are 5 minutes long and begin with the same exquisitely shot sequence (by Sergei Osipyan and Alexandr Lungin): a Polaroid picture is taken, processed inside the camera and placed in a black envelope, in a nod to the packaging of the product. The films themselves aim to explore the mystical depths of a unique individual experience. Regardless of its impact on gum sales, the project gives the viewer a good taste of what can be called Russian New Wave.



5IVE Experiment premiered in Moscow on March 21 and will run in Moscow theaters, on the 5Gum Web site and on MUBI Garage.

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