KUMU DOC : PÖFF

From the East

Local title
Idast
Original title
D'Est
Director
Chantal Akerman
Country
France, Belgium, Portugal
Year
1993
Programme
Kumu Documentary

The quasi-fictional documentary by Chantal Akerman was shot in the early 1990s, after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Travelling from the former East Germany to Moscow, she passes through Poland, Lithuania and Ukraine. With alternating static shots and film footage, the director has recorded life in the territory of the Eastern Bloc. In this state-of-the-art film with an enchanting atmosphere, various spaces, landscapes, anonymous masses and matter appear in the frame, forming a visually hypnotic audio-visual journey into the recent past of the region.

Chantal Akerman (1950‒2015) is considered one of the most important film directors in the world. Her Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Brussels was chosen as the best film of all time in 2022 by the British film magazine Sight and Sound.

We thank: the Royal Belgian Film Archive

Introduction by Liina Siib

Director
Chantal Akerman
Screenwriter
Chantal Akerman
Producer
François Le Bayon
DoP
Bernard Delville, Rémon Fromont
Editor
Claire Atherton, Agnès Bruckert
Production
Lieurac Productions, Paradise Films, Rádio e Televisão de Portugal
Runtime
Language
German, Polish, Russian
Subtitles
English
Other festivals
Toronto, Berlin

Screenings

Kumu auditoorium KUMU
ScreeningIdast
SubtitlesEnglish