Festival Films A-Z

St. Petersburg Documentary Film Studio Krukov kanal 12
190068 Sankt Petersburg
Russland
Tel.: +7 812 71 40 806
E-Mail: cinedoc@peterstar.ru

Sergei Loznitsa

Deckert Distribution
Peterssteinweg 13
04107 Leipzig
Deutschland
Tel.: +49 341 21 56 638
Fax: +49 341 21 56 639
E-Mail: info@deckert-distribution.com

Synopsis

The longest siege during World War II was that of Leningrad. It lasted for 900 days from September 1941 to January 1944, during which time Hitler attempted to starve the Soviet city of three million people into submission. Estimates of the number of residents who died from starvation, disease, or cold range from 64,000 to 800,000.
Comprised solely of rarely-seen footage found in Soviet film archives by director Sergei Loznitsa, Blockade vividly re-creates those momentous events, featuring a meticulously reconstructed, state-of-the-art soundtrack added to the original black-and-white silent footage. The result gives viewers the eerie impression of being not just observers but virtually participants in the events as they unfold on the streets of Leningrad.
Blockade is organised episodically, beginning with the defensive measures, including artillery emplacements, anti-tank fortifications, trenches, and observation balloons; the devastating effect of artillery shelling and aerial bombing of the city; the marching of captured German soldiers through the streets, surrounded by taunting Soviet crowds; the corpses lying on street corners or dragged on sleds to mortuaries for eventual burial in mass graves; citizens desperately foraging for food, water and firewood; the joyous celebrations upon the breaking of the siege and the disturbing aftermath.
Blockade is a dramatically compelling demonstration of the power of archival footage to bring history to life, here synergised by an evocative soundtrack.

Biography

Heute bauen wir ein Haus (1996), Leben, Herbst (1998), Haltepunkt (2000), Portrait (2002), Landschaft (2003), Fabrik (2004), Blockade (2005)

Filmography

Heute bauen wir ein Haus (1996), Leben, Herbst (1998), Haltepunkt (2000), Portrait (2002), Landschaft (2003), Fabrik (2004), Blockade (2005)

Dates

56	06.10.2007	18:00	Kommkino
81	07.10.2007	21:45	Filmhaus