A clenched fist, which at a furious pace colours a white piece of paper totally black with a piece of charcoal against a thundering choral work, is a sight that will stay with you, together with the young children's angelic faces. The city Birobidja is located in Oblast, which was created in 1934 by Stalin himself as an independent state for communist Jews, in the far eastern part of the Soviet Union. Over time, it became a thriving haven for Jews from all parts of the world, but today they are only a disappearing minority in a culture on the brink of disintegration. Even if Oblast is still the only recognised Jewish state outside Israel. You sense the presence of the past in the spaces and landscapes, in every moment and in every dark and atmospheric image of Hinant's at once humble and monumentally ambitious film opus. An experience you should treat yourself to see on the big screen.
