Event

MUBI: THE EVENT

Dir. Sergei Loznitsa, 2015
Netherlands. 74 mins.
In Russian with English subtitles.

Official Selection: Venice, Rotterdam, Belfast

Winner: "Best Documentary" by the Russian Guild of Film Critics, "Best Film (New Waves Non-Fiction Award)" at the Seville European Film Festival

In August 1991 a failed coup détat led by a group of hard-core communists in Moscow ended the 70-year-long rule of the Soviets. In Leningrad thousands of confused, scared, excited and desperate people poured into the streets to become a part of the event, which was supposed to change their destiny.

Sergei Loznitsa has made an astounding documentary from restored footage of the dramatic cavalcade of events during the collapse of the Soviet Union 26 years ago this month: government dissolution, Gorbachev gone missing, and a coup detat. Like today, we only know what is presented to the public.