My Father Evgeni

Parallel to more recent Russian history, Andrei Zagdansky tells us about the life of his father, Evgeni, who was born between the World Wars and who, as a young man aged 25, saw how the Nazis reduced his home city of Kiev to rubble. Evgeni left, returning years later with his family. Together with a subtle soundtrack, this rich montage of found footage, archive material and home movies evokes a world subject to radical change. Zagdansky's mother was what the Soviets at the time called a "cosmopolitan" - in other words a Jew, and a fact that was better to keep to yourself. The family did not live according to the Jewish laws and Andrei was not circumcised. After leaving the army in the 1950s, his father went to work in a film studio, making popular science films. While Evgeni was focusing on his career and Andrei and his sister were being brought up by their mother, the Soviet Union was "de-Stalinized" by Nikita Khrushchev, and Kiev received visits from important international political figures, artists and scientists. Not only does the son look back in this film on the life of his father; the father also writes letters to his son, who has left for America, full of personal reflections on the changing times and their life together, and concerns for his wellbeing. Somewhat bitterly, Evgeni concludes that, in spite of the vast physical distance between them, they have never been so close.