In August 1991 a failed coup d’état attempt (known as putsch), led by a group of hardcore communists in Moscow, ended the 70-year-long rule of the Soviets. The USSR collapsed soon after, and the tricolour of the sovereign Russian Federation flew over the Kremlin.
As president Gorbachev was detained by the coup leaders, state-run TV and radio channels, usurped by the putschists, broadcast Tchaikovsky’s “Swan Lake” instead of news bulletins, and crowds of protestors gathered around Moscow’s White House, preparing to defend the stronghold of democratic opposition led by Boris Yeltsin, in the city of 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.
A quarter of a century later, Sergei Loznitsa revisits the dramatic moments of August 1991 and casts an eye on the event which was hailed world-wide as the birth of "Russian democracy". What really happened in Russia in August 1991? What was the driving force behind the crowds on Palace Square in Leningrad? What exactly are we witnessing: the collapse of the regime or its creative re-branding? Who are these people looking at the camera: victors or victims?

Direction: Sergei Loznitsa

Script: Sergei Loznitsa

Production: Sergei Loznitsa, Maria Choustova, Nicola Mazzanti, Maria Choustova

Editing: Sergei Loznitsa

Sound: Vladimir Golovnitski

Original Title: SOBYTIE

Original Language: Russian

Film Production Countries: Netherlands, Belgium

Website: www.facebook.com/atomsvoid

Social Media: www.facebook.com/atomsvoid

Statement of the Director/s
In THE EVENT I tried to develop my method of working with archival material. I am fascinated and enchanted with the aura of Leningrad/Petersburg, and I am excited by the opportunity to continue the cinematic chronicles of this city. Just as in BLOCKADE, the footage of THE EVENT documents the life of the city at the time of a historical calamity. Perhaps, not as tragic, as it was in BLOCKADE, but nevertheless, crucially significant.
Mythology created around the events of the 1991 Putsch has overshadowed the actual facts, and it is only now – 25 years later – that we can distance ourselves from the misconceptions, strip off the layers of propaganda and speculations, and see and judge the events in a contemporary context. What interests me most is not the politicians, but the people. The protagonists of the film are the citizens of Leningrad, living through the calamities of the coup d’état in August 1991.
The film consists of episodes, arranged in chronological order, representing life of the city during those troublesome summer days. We can observe a gradual change in the mood and the spirit of the people: we can see how ordinary life turns into history; people’s faces, singular close-ups taken in the crowd, bear witness to the spirit of the time, the description of which cannot be found in history text books or transcripts of political speeches. Perhaps it is on those faces, with their expression of confusion, disbelief, determination, anger, that we find the answer to the question – what happened in Russia in August 1991 and why it is that we are still puzzled about the meaning of this event today.

Biography of the Director/s
Sergei Loznitsa, Ukrainian film maker, was born on 5 September 1964. He grew up in Kiev, and in 1987 graduated from the Kiev Polytechnic with a degree in Applied Mathematics. From 1987 to 1991 Sergei worked as a scientist at the Kiev Institute of Cybernetics, specializing in artificial intelligence research.
In 1997 Loznitsa graduated from the Russian State Institute of Cinematography (VGIK) in Moscow, where he studied feature film making.
Sergei Loznitsa has been making documentary films since 1996, and he has directed 17 documentaries.
Sergei Loznitsa’s montage film BLOCKADE (2005) is based on the archive footage of besieged Leningrad. His feature debut MY JOY (2010) premiered in competition in Cannes, and was followed by IN THE FOG which premiered in competition in Cannes in 2012, where it was awarded FIPRESCI prize.

Filmography of the Director/s
2014 - THE OLD JEWISH CEMETERY
2014 - MAIDAN
2014 - REFLECTIONS/BRIDGES OF SARAJEVO
2013 - LETTER
2012 - O MILAGRE DE SANTO ANTONIO
2012 - IN THE FOG
2010 - MY JOY, fiction
2008 - NORTHERN LIGHT
2008 - REVUE
2006 – ARTEL
2005 – BLOCKADE
2004 – FACTORY
2003 – LANDSCAPE.
2002 – PORTRAIT
2001 – SETTLEMENT
2000 – THE TRAIN STOP
1998 – LIFE, AUTUMN, short
1996 – TODAY WE ARE GOING TO BUILD A HOUSE

Awards Won
Seville European FF: Best Documentary
Ann Arbor FF: Michael Moore Award for Best Documentary
Riga IFF: Grand Prix
Leipzig IFF: Leipziger Ring

World Sales:
Atoms & Void
Brugsestraat, 20
The Hague, 2587 XS, Netherlands
E-Mail: [email protected]
Phone: +31 61 100 60 99

Press:
Atoms & Void
Brugsestraat, 20
The Hague, 2587 XS, Netherlands
E-Mail: [email protected]
Phone: +31 61 100 60 99