Blokada

Blockade

Told without voiceover, explanatory subtitles or any other contextualizing material, the Russian docu BLOCKADE looks unlikely to show up on the History Channel as it stands now. Nevertheless, this absorbing account of the 900-day siege of Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) during WWII, told entirely through re-edited archive footage with freshly made sound, reps poignant viewing as it focuses on the daily lives of the city’s inhabitants. Culled from newsreel material, pic's visuals are grouped thematically to show different aspects of the Leningrad Blockade. Shots of burning and later devastated buildings are backed by a soundtrack of sirens and raging flames. Sounds of soft weeping are matched to imagery of mass graves, which still have power to shock. (Leslie Felperin, Variety)

Director's Biography
Sergei Loznitsa was born 1964 in Belarus and grew up in the Ukraine. Graduated from the Russian State Institute of Cinematography (VGIK) in Moscow in 1997. He has been making documentary films since 1996 and has received numerous national and international awards. In 2010 Loznitsa’s feature debut MY JOY premiered in the main competition at the Festival de Cannes followed by IN THE FOG in 2012 and MAIDAN in 2014. SEGODNYA MY POSTROIM DOM (Today We Are Going To Build A House, co-directed by Marat Magambetov, 1996, short doc), ZHIZN, OSEN (Life, Autumn, co-directed by Marat Magambetov, 1998, short doc), POLUSTANOK (The Train Stop, 2000, short doc), POSELENIJE (The Settlement, 2001, doc), PORTRET (Portrait, 2002, short doc), PEYZAZH (Landscape, 2003, doc), FABRIKA (Factory, 2004, short doc), BLOKADA (Blockade, 2005, doc), ARTEL (2006, short doc), SEVERNY SVET (Northern Light, 2008, doc), PREDSTAVLENYE (Revue, 2009, doc), SCHASTYE MOE (My Joy, 2010), V TUMANE (In The Fog, 2012; CE '13), O MILAGRE DE SANTO ANTÓNIO (The Miracle of Saint Anthony, 2012, short doc), PISMO (The Letter, 2012, short doc), REFLECTIONS. DIRECTOR'S CUT (2014, short doc), MAIDAN (2014, doc), THE OLD JEWISH CEMETERY (2014, short doc)
Tribute 2015
Sergei Loznitsa
Russia 2005
black and white
52 minutes
without dialogue
Cinematography N. Blajkow, A. Bogorow, J. Blumberg, A. Bistrow, V. Valdaizew, N. Golod, B. Dementiew, N. Dolgow, S. Iwanow, O. Iwanow, L. Isaksohn, A. Klimow, A. Ksenovontow, R. Karmen, L. Lewitin, E. Leibowich, V. Maksimowich, S. Maslenikow, and many more
Sound/Sounddesign Vladimir Golovnitzkiy
Producer(s) Viacheslav Telnov (St. Petersburg Documentary Film Studio)
Production
St. Petersburg Documentary Film Studio Kryukov kanal 12 190068 St. Petersburg Russia T +7 812 714 53 12 F +7 812 714 33 04 cinedoc@mail.ru www.cinedoc.ru