Artek - Het ideale vakantiekamp

On archive footage, the red banners of the young Soviet pioneers wave in front of Lenin’s huge statue. ‘The living statue of Lenin’, was what the exclusive youth camp Artek was sometimes called in the Soviet era. Since its foundation in 1925, it only accepted the best pioneers – the Soviet answer to boy scouts. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Artek has been located in the Ukraine. At first glance, much has remained the same: the youngsters still come from different former Soviet republics like Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Georgia, and are still addressed moralistically by the leaders. They all still receive a scarf, now blue instead of red. But the youngsters have changed. Nowadays, Artek not only receives children who are bright at school or the children of party bosses, anyone who can afford it can come to Artek. The current driving lessons and dental care has replaced the old images of massive morning exercises. And the wavering kids of today, who had expected more from the camp offset the permanently smiling children on the infectious archive footage. Director Walter Stokman introduces a few children who explain who they are and why they have come to Artek. One boy in particular manages to aptly phrase his doubts about the camp. In contrast to the hopeful management, who think they fill a void in today’s society, he would not give a rouble for Artek’s chances of survival.