Press Release, 18.11.2022

Photo: Poster for the film “The Solovki Power. Evidence and Documents” (USSR, 1988)

On 22 November 22, Yabloko will hold in its Moscow office a screening and discussion of Marina Goldovskaya’s 1988 documentary film “The Solovki Power. Evidence and Documents” devoted to the prisoners of the Solovki concentration camp, the archipelago where political prisoners – “enemies of the people” – were exiled to forced labour camps and a prison during Stalin’s Great Terror period in 1920-1930s. After the screening Yuri Brodsky, a Russian photographer and writer, author of the book “Solovki. The Labyrinth of Transformations, will speak about the creation of the film. The screening will begin at 18:00 (Moscow time).

The film “The Solovki Power. Evidence and Documents” by Marina Goldovskaya virtually became a commentary on the forgotten 1928 film directed by Andrei Cherkasov “Solovki (Solovki Special Purpose Camps)”. The authors were lucky to film alive several invaluable witnesses of that era – surviving former prisoners of Solovki: Acad. Dmitry Likhachev, historian and linguist, Olga Adamova-Sliozberg, author of memoirs about the Solovki prison, Anatoly Gorelov, literary critic, and others. In Goldovskaya’s film, they watch newsreels taking them 50 years back, and speak about the true conditions in the camps, recognise their friends in the newsreels and talk about their destinies.

Using documents and film materials that captured the era of camp socialism, Marina Goldovskaya made a film that shocked the whole world. The film received a special jury prize at the Amsterdam International Documentary Film Festival (1989), special recognition from the jury at the Sundance Film Festival (1989), three Nika awards in the nominations for the best feature film, the best directorial work, and the best music score for a film (1990).

After the screening of the film, Yuri Brodsky will speak about the history of creation, the director and the producer of the film and the entire film crew, and about the role of the film in the de-Stalinisation of our society.

The screening of the film “The Solovki Power. Evidence and Documents” and a meeting with Yuri Brodsky will be held at the office of the Yabloko party (at the address: Moscow, Pyatnitskaya 31, building 2, conference room on the 4th floor) on 22 November at 18:00. Registration for the event via the link.

Yabloko will conduct streaming of the event.