(Sample clip from Chernobyl: Chronicle of Difficult Weeks)
The Glasnost Film Festival is a 12 DVD collection featuring 22 documentary films produced or released in the beginning of the "Glasnost Era" in the Soviet Union -- 1986-1988. These independent films definitively document the historic cultural and political shifts that led to greater openness and the eventual demise of the Soviet Union in 1991. All were produced originally on 35mm film and are subtitled in English.
VOLUME 1
Against the Current, 27
min.
A film about ecological crime and how the residents of
Kirishi protested a local chemical plant.
The Wood Goblin, 18 min.
For 15
years a former WWII tank commander lived alone in the woods
after a smear campaign removed him from his Communist party
position.
VOLUME 2
The Temple, 58 min.
A
strikingly beautiful film about the 1000th anniversary of
Christianity in Russia and the role of religion in Soviet
society.
VOLUME 3
The Tailor, 50 min.
A sobering look
at the spiritual void and disillusionment of middle-aged
Soviet adults, many of whom became aged before their time.
Early
on Sunday, 16 min.
A wonderful portrait of old village
women, whose unpretentious observations about life, love and
perestroika evoke laughter and compassion.
VOLUME 4
Chernobyl: Chronicle
of Difficult Weeks, 54 min.
The first film made following
the nuclear accident focuses on the immediate aftermath of
the disaster and the cleanup effort.
The Bam Zone , 19 min.
The
uncompleted Baikal-Amur Mainline (BAM) Railroad in Siberia
is a powerful symbol of the stagnation of the Brezhnev years.
VOLUME 5
Scenes at a Fountain , 28 min.
Dramatically portrays
the bold, yet primitive efforts to cap the world's largest
natural gas fire on the shores of the Caspian Sea.
The Limit, 15 min.
A
horrifying look at the personal catastrophe of alcoholism
on the lives of a number of people young and old.
VOLUME 6
And the Past Seems But a Dream, 87 min.
A 50-year reunion
of former residents of Igarka reveals a time that was a painful
nightmare and the complicated attitudes of people towards
Stalin.
Theatre Square, 28 min.
Without any narration or interviews,
this film presents the images and sounds of a hunger strike
staged over the Nagorno-Karabahk dispute.
VOLUME 7
Black
Square, 56 min.
The story of Russia's artistic avant-garde
from the 1950's to the 1970's, when their works were condemned
or destroyed.
Dialogues, 28 min
A bacchanal of rock-jazz
and new wave music erupts in an abandoned Leningrad palace,
a demonstration of freer musical expression.
VOLUME 8
This
is How We Live, 30 min.
A shocking look at young homegrown
fascists and self-styled "punks," revealing the
growing alienation among young people.
Homecoming, 17 min.
In
words reminiscent of Vietnam veterans, Soviet veterans of
the Afghan War describe their anguish upon their return from
the battlefield.
VOLUME 9
Marshall Blucher: A Portrait
Against the Backdrop of an Epoch, 70 min.
A sweeping look
at the excesses of the Stalin era through the story of a top
Red Army commander, who in 1938 was declared an "enemy
of the people" and perished in Stalin's torture chambers.
VOLUME 10
The Trial-II, 55 min.
A collective
meditation on the past and future of the Soviet Union, including
a testament from the wife of Nikolai Bukharin.
Adonis XIV, 9
min.
A "judas" goat
serenely leads a herd of animals to the slaughterhouse in
this short parable which was banned for 9 years.
VOLUME 11
Final Verdict, 68 min.
An intense personal examination
of the motivations of a young man sentenced to death for
killing two people.
The Evening Sacrifice, 18 min.
An experimental
film that attempts to capture the spirit of a crowd.
VOLUME 12
Are You Going to the Ball?, 28 min.
An unprecedented
look at the hardships young girls, including Olga Korbut,
endured to be a part of the famous Soviet Olympic gymnastics
team.
Tomorrow Is a Holiday, 19 min.
Young women workers reveal
their alienation over poor working and living conditions,
along with their inner strength.