1991 was a turning point in Europe and the world, it was even given a name The end of history. This year, the Baltic States regained and strengthened their independent states and the USSR empire collapsed. The final witnesses of the last empire of the twentieth century were several generations, whose lives, beliefs and values were influenced by this time.
Thirty years have passed, and director Ivo Briedis together with screenwriter Rita Rudušas meet their peers in the former Soviet Union, who were young at the time of the collapse of the USSR and perceived this historic moment as a scenario of their lives.
Although there is a belief that the political culture changes in thirty years or one generation, in recent years we have seen that Soviet arguments are deliberately used to strengthen and shape modern political ideologies both in the former Soviet bloc and elsewhere in the world. The phenomenon of the “Soviet man” has become a kind of virus that allows many to escape and take refuge in the past.
The filmmakers meet with their peers in Latvia, Lithuania, Russia, Armenia and the Czech Republic. As the Soviet Union collapsed, these people were invited to the central television of the time in 1991 to discuss, under Vladimir Pozner, whether or not to be in the Soviet Union. Director Ivo Briedis and screenwriter Rita Ruduša meet people who long for life in the Soviet Union and experts – Anna Aplbaum and Lev Gudkov, who have studied homo sovieticus phenomenon.
Ivo Briedis homo sovieticus describes him as a man who is so well adapted to totalitarianism that he cannot exist in another political system. These people feel most at ease in captivity. At first they were a product of social engineering, later they became cunning slaves who avoided any responsibility.
movies Homo Sovieticus are Latvian studies Mistrus Media (producers Gints Grūbe, Elīna Gediņa-Ducena), Lithuanian studies Monocle (producer Jurga Gluskiniene) and Czech studios Frame Films (producer Jitka Kotrlova) co-production. The main cameraman is Mārtiņš Jurevics, editing directors – Tomašs Elšīks (Czech Republic) and Toms Krauklis, music author – Martins Bjalobžeskis (Lithuania).
The film has already been screened at the International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival One World It will be screened at the International Film Festival in Prague and September Astra Film In Romania. At the festival Artdocfest September 7 at the cinema Splendid Palace there will be a screening of the film in English.
The cinema visitor must have a valid Covid-19 vaccination or illness certificate.
The video reel of the movie is watchable here.
Information: www.splendidpalace.lv
–
