Leninland

In the USSR, the cult of Lenin had replaced the Orthodox religion that Communists wanted to eliminate. At the end of Soviet era, in the village Gorky, 20 kilometers from Moscow, the last and the most ambitious Museum of Lenin was built. In former days it had 3000 visitors per week, now it’s only 20. Today it looks like a temple of forgotten civilization, a place that has fallen out of time. But faithful to the ideas of Lenin the keepers of the museum remain. They wait for random visitors in the abandoned halls – and for the return of former times.
The story of the museum is shown through the two main characters Evgenia and Natalya, the caretakers of the museum. Natalya is 52 years old, a history teacher at the local school, fond of the Communism ideology, she really loves and respects Lenin. She likes the place where she works. 56 years old Evgenia is a scientific researcher. She’s also a hard-core new-age believer; she worships all sorts of gods, and considers Lenin one of the biggest among them. But after 10 years of dedicated work in the museum, she now wants to leave it and continue her spiritual journey in another place.

Trailer

Details

Country of Production
Russia

Year of Production
2013

Format
BluRay, Digi Beta Pal

Length
52 min

Director
Askold Kurov

Production
Ethnogeographic Research Foundation (Ethnofund) in co-production with Saxonia Entertainment and VPRO

Original Language
Russian

Subtitles
English

Festivals / Awards

Stalker HRFF Moscow 2013
Seattle IFF 2014
Vladivostok IFF of Asian-Pacific countries 2014
Message to Man IFF St. Petersburg 2014 (Award for Best Russian Debut Film)
Magas Tourist FF "Rendezvous with Russia" 2014, Ingushetia
(Grand Prix)
Yekaterinburg IDF ROSSIJA 2014 (Press Award)
Russian FF KINO Genève 2014 (Best Documentary Director Award)
Verzio HRFF Budapest 2014