This Sunday, November 14, at 4:15 you have the chance to see a fantastic documentary film
by Boston filmmaker Robin Hessman, an affiliate of the Davis Center. Details below and
at the Museum of Fine Arts website:
http://www.mfa.org/programs/film/my-perestroika
My Perestroika by Robin Hessman (UK/US, 2010, 88 min.). Robin Hessman follows five
Russians living during extraordinary times-from their sheltered Soviet childhood, to the
collapse of the Soviet Union during their teens, to the shifting political landscape of
post-Soviet Russia. My Perestroika enjoyed a busy year: nominated for a Grand Jury Prize
at Sundance, winner of the Center for Documentary Studies filmmaker award at the Full
Frame Documentary Film Festival, and special jury mention at Silverdocs. In Russian with
English subtitles.
Introduced by Marshall I. Goldman, senior scholar, Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian
Studies, Harvard University.
ABOUT THE FILM:
My Perestroika (tells the story of five people from the last generation of Soviet children
brought up behind the Iron
Curtain. Just coming of age when the USSR collapsed, they witnessed the world of their
childhood crumble and change beyond recognition.
The film explores the lives and personal stories of a married couple, both history
teachers, and three of their childhood friends, revealing
how they are adjusting to their post-Soviet reality in today's Moscow. Using a wealth
of footage rarely seen outside of Russia--including
extensive home movies from the 1970s--My Perestroika intercuts an intimate view of the
past with the contemporary lives of these former
schoolmates, weaving their voices to map the contours of a nation still very much in
transition.
PRAISE FOR MY PERESTROIKA:
My Perestroika is a wonderful film. It asks, "What has changed since the collapse of
the Soviet Union? Has anything really changed?" We get
different answers from the people we've gotten to know well in the film. Because
filmmaker Robin Hessman knows Russia and its people so well, the
viewer strongly identifies with all the film's central characters. A real view from
inside, completely natural and real, it vividly portrays
history up close and personal. The montaged juxtapositions of past and present are
beautifully done. The home movies of the heroes' childhood
and the soundtrack music, composed of popular songs for children from the 70s and 80s, add
to the authenticity of this fine documentary.
-Jane Taubman, Professor of Russian, Amherst College
ABOUT THE FILMMAKER:
Robin Hessman graduated from Brown University with a dual degree in Russian and film. She
received her graduate degree in film directing
from the All-Russian State Institute of Cinematography (VGIK) in Moscow (with a "red
diploma," or honors). She received an Academy Award in 1994
(with co-director James Longley) for their student film, Portrait of Boy with Dog. During
her eight years living in Russia, Robin worked for the
Children's Television Workshop as the on-site producer of Ulitsa Sezam, the original
Russian language Sesame Street. In 2005 she was named
Filmmaker in Residence at WGBH, Boston, to develop My Perestroika.
Robin is an associate of Harvard University's Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian
Studies and a term member of the Council on Foreign
Relations. Since 2006, Robin has served as the director of documentary programming for
Amfest, the American Film Festival in Moscow.
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Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies
Harvard University
1730 Cambridge Street, 3rd Floor
Cambridge, MA 02138
T 617.495.4037
F 617.495.8319
http://www.daviscenter.fas.harvard.edu