The village of Kolodozero, deeply concealed in the woods of Pudozh, is
located on the border between Arkhangelsk Oblast and Karelia in Russia.
In ancient times, people settled on the northern flanks of the local
bodies of water--rivers and lakes. Kolodozero therefore consists of a
handful of small hamlets--Lakhta, Isakovo, Ust'-Reka, Pogost', Zaozerye,
and Dubovo. Houses are scattered along the picturesque lake's shores and
capes. Fifteen years ago, these places enchanted three friends from
Moscow who were strolling around the north and searching for the meaning
of life, and most likely, themselves as well. In 2001, they jointly
gathered resources and started building a new church to replace the old
one that was burned down back in 1977. One of the friends, the redhead
rebel and punk Arkady Shlykov, who graduated from the Moscow Spiritual
Seminary, accepted the ordination in 2005. 40 years later, therefore,
parochial life was born anew in the village. The stern locals at first
cast much suspicion onto the shaggy-haired, rockstar-resembling priest,
but later on came to love him wholeheartedly. They accepted his freedom,
both external and internal, and appreciated his character--peace-loving
and gentle. This is a story about the people of the Russian North, about
what keeps them together, about the spirit and soul, about their
passions and emotions.
