TF 800 723 5522 P 212 685 6242 F 212 685 4717 EMAIL [email protected] 800 723 5522 P 212 685 6242 F 212 685 4717 EMAIL [email protected] THE CINEMA GUILD TWITTER/PINTEREST @CGEDUCATIONAL ACCLAIMED AND AWARD-WINNING DOCUMENTARIES FOR Russian & Eastern European Studies Also by Sergei Loznitsa: NEW RUSSIA IN TRANSITION Series 2006, four DVDs, varying running times Purchase of complete set: $599 $539.10 “Highly recommended. A masterpiece! A bril- liant and evocative look at how Russian life is changing.” —Educational Media Reviews Online “These works of documentary art, either individu- ally or as a set, would be most useful in classes on Soviet and Russian film or cinema history and theory.” —Slavic Review Vol. 1: FACTORY 30 minutes MAIDAN A meticulous study of a steel and clay factory in the Urals, Factory takes the viewer on a visually mes- Directed by Sergei Loznitsa merizing tour through the belly of an old Soviet 2014, 131 minutes industrial plant. Purchase: $395 $355.50 | Classroom Rental: $125 Vol. 2: PORTRAIT “A vital and urgent film.” Directed by acclaimed filmmaker Sergei Loznitsa, 28 minutes —The Guardian Maidan chronicles the civil uprising that toppled the A meditation on old and new Russia, Portrait cap- government of Ukrainian president Victor Yanukovich “An impressive, bold treatment of a complex sub- tures a people, and a world, that is quickly vanishing. and has since developed into an international crisis ject. One of the few documentaries about a recent between Russia and the West. Maidan is a record of revolution that won’t feel dated in five years.” —Variety a momentous historical event and an extraordinary Vol. 3: THE SETTLEMENT 79 minutes study of the popular uprising as a social, cultural and Critics’ Pick.”Easily the most rigorous, vital, and philosophical phenomenon. powerful movie of 2014. Maidan is a testament A visually arresting documentary about a community to the human experience of resistance.” in the Russian countryside, The Settlement introduces Beginning in November 2013, when hundreds of —Village Voice us to a rural settlement where the residents, seem- thousands of Ukrainian citizens gathered in Kiev’s “This is monumental filmmaking—part document, ingly involved in farm work, are in fact patients of a Independence Square (Maidan) to protest Yanukovich’s part cinematic Guernica that takes a historical nearby hospital. refusal to establish closer ties with the West, Loznitsa moment and shows the great ambiguities of and his cameraman were there, capturing the peace- political upheaval and the fundamental tensions Vol. 4: THE TRAIN STATION ful rallies, demonstrations, speeches and songs. In between idealism and reality at the heart of all 24 minutes January 2014, following an ultimatum from the gov- movements.” ernment to disperse, riot police stormed the square. —Sight & Sound One of Loznitsa’s most haunting films and most pointed Maidan captures the bloody street battles that erupted, “Starkly beautiful. Succeeds in chronicling a social critiques, The Train Station is set inside an iso- the fires that raged throughout the night, and the remarkable historical moment and delivering an lated train depot. make-shift funerals for the dead. emotional wallop.” Eschewing the conventions of traditional talking —Cinema Scope heads documentaries, Maidan plunges the viewer “Harkens back to the heroic, journalistic roots into the middle of this revolution for a startling and of documentary-making and yet feels ineffably immediate portrait of an awakening nation, rediscov- modern and formally daring.” ering its identity. —Hollywood Reporter WWW.CINEMAGUILD.COM 1 TF 800 723 5522 P 212 685 6242 F 212 685 4717 EMAIL [email protected] NEW LETTERS TO MAX Russian troops assisting its efforts, much like they did through a series of short letters. A remarkably forth- in South Ossetia, and more recently in the Crimea). But right, poetic and insightful conversation about an Directed by Eric Baudelaire it was never recognized by the United Nations or by isolated conflict that has come to be viewed less of 2013, 103 minutes most of the world’s countries. Only Russia, Venezuela, an anomaly, and more of a precursor in this post-cold Purchase: $350 $315 | Classroom Rental: $125 Nicaragua, and Nauru have done so. war landscape, particularly in Ukraine. A small state by the Black Sea, Abkhazia is an indepen- In Letters to Max, acclaimed artist and director Eric “An illuminating snapshot of a land that has been dent country depending on who you ask. It seceded Baudelaire, sets in motion a fascinating discussion with largely off the world’s radar since the end of the from Georgia after the 1992-1993 civil war (which saw Max, former Minister of Foreign Affairs for Abkhazia, civil war with Georgia in 1993.” —The Hollywood Reporter IN MEMORIAM: ALEXANDER LITVINENKO Directed by Jos de Putter and Masha Novikova 2007, 55 minutes LOST COLONY IN SEARCH OF HAPPINESS Purchase: $325 $292.50 | Classroom Rental: $85 Directed by Astrid Bussink Directed by Alexander Gutman A meticulous account of the life and final days of 2008, 72 minutes 2006, 52 minutes ex-FSB agent Alexander Litvinenko, who died of radi- Purchase: $310 $279 | Classroom Rental: $125 Purchase: $310 $279 | Classroom Rental: $125 ation poisoning in November 2006. Composed of Litvinenko’s confessions, alongside interviews with The recent history of Abkhazia is told through the A beautiful and poetic film about the last remaining Anna Politkovskaya, Chechen President in exile, story of a once-renowned scientific institute strug- Jews in Birobidzhan, the world’s first Jewish autono- Akhmed Zakayev, Soviet-dissident Vladimir Bukovski, gling to survive after the disintegration of the Soviet mous region, established in a distant corner of Siberia film director Andrej Nekrasov (Disbelief), Litvinenko’s Union. Lost Colony follows the desperate restoration in the 1920s. A poignant documentary, In Search of father, Walter, and wife, Maria, as well as extensive attempts by the staff who regard the institute as a Happiness mixes fascinating archival footage and old newsreel footage (including extraordinarily revealing symbol of the decay in their country. Soviet newsreels, with bucolic images of village life to video of President Putin), this arresting documentary “Highly Recommended. A fascinating window reveal the strange history of the Jewish Autonomous boldly chronicles one man’s tragic disillusionment into post-Soviet history.” Region, which even today remains a strong symbol with his country. of Jewish faith. —Educational Media Reviews Online “A darkly informative portrait of post-Soviet Russia “A touching reminder of the impact that “Highly Recommended! This gem of a pro- under Putin.”—Cineaste duction gives the audience a slice of life view of even ‘small’ conflicts can have on human beings— “Recommended. Of interest to students of modern some of the last residents in Birobidzhan.” as well other species—this is recommended.” Russian history and politics.” —Educational Media Reviews Online —Video Librarian —Educational Media Reviews Online 2 WWW.CINEMAGUILD.COM TF 800 723 5522 P 212 685 6242 F 212 685 4717 EMAIL [email protected] ORANGE REVOLUTION 17 AUGUST in solitary confinement. This startling documentary chronicles one day in his life, advancing a complex Directed by Steve York Directed by Alexander Gutman and troubling assessment of crime and punishment. 2007, 92 minutes 2009, 63 minutes “A revelation for every one of its sixty-three min- Purchase: $210 $189 | Classroom Rental: $125 Purchase: $310 $279 | Classroom Rental: $125 utes.” —Cineaste Assembled from over 300 hours of original footage On a small island in central Russia, inside a former “Highly Recommended. A strange and haunting and archival materials, featuring penetrating interviews monastery converted into a high security prison, documentary sure to stimulate interesting discus- with key play players, this acclaimed documentary is inmate Boris Bezotechestvo is serving a life sentence sions.” —Educational Media Reviews Online an in-depth look at Ukraine’s 2004 Orange Revolution. “Highly Recommended. Of interest to students of modern Eastern European history and Political Science.” —Educational Media Reviews Online “A fascinating look at grassroots democracy in action. Recommended.”—Chicago Reader “The most convincing film to date about the leg- endary events of the Ukrainian civic resistance.” —Kino-Kolo, Ukraine’s premier film magazine a large group of women were held responsible for THE ANGELMAKERS poisoning their husbands with the so-called “flypa- Directed by Astrid Bussink per” method. An intriguing web of stories unfolds 2005, 34 minutes through the characters’ memories which recapture Purchase: $210 $189 | Classroom Rental: $65 old but ever-lasting tales of life, death and the strug- gle between the sexes. The Angelmakers is an observational portrait of the “A rich classroom resource for discussion. sleepy village of Nagyrev in rural Hungary. We meet CIVIL STATUS Highly recommended for Eastern European its inhabitants, who share with us their daily life as studies, women’s and gender issues, marriage, Directed by Alina Rudnitskaya well as their memories of the village’s tainted past. domestic violence, patriarchy, and women’s 2006, 29 minutes We gradually come to understand the extent of the empowerment.” Purchase: $210 $189 | Classroom Rental: $65 “arsenic murders” which took place in 1929, when —Educational Media Reviews Online An observational documentary about the sometimes thinkers such as Marx and Engels, as well as writers, bizarre, sometimes absurd daily happenings at a civil DISGRACED MONUMENTS philosophers, scientists and artists. Lenin's plan also registry office in St. Petersburg, where people from Directed by Mark Lewis and Laura Mulvey prescribed the removal from the squares and streets all walks of life come to record the most significant 1993, 48 minutes of all monuments depicting the Tsars and their ser- events in their lives. Civil Status opens a unique win- Purchase: $310 $279 | Classroom Rental: $125 vants. Using rare archival footage and interviews with dow on contemporary Russian society.