235 000 000
Soviet Sixties: new waves and red rebellion
•
1h 41m
Directed by Uldis Brauns • 1967 • USSR/Latvia
A landmark in the Baltic poetic documentary tradition, 235 000 000 is one of the most ambitious films of the Soviet 60s. Produced in celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the October Revolution – the title refers to the nominal population of the USSR at the time – the film presents a series of tableaux from Soviet life, from affairs of state to everyday life across its myriad diverse regions stretching from the Baltic Sea to the Pacific coast. A collaboration between four production units guided by a field manual put together by scriptwriter Herz Frank and director Uldis Brauns (a disciple of Dziga Vertov), 235,000,000 eschews voiceover or commentary, allowing its timeless and exquisite images to speak for themselves.
235 000 000
Directed by Uldis Brauns, Laima Žurgina, Biruta Veldre
Written by Herz Frank
Cinematography by Rihards Pīks, Valdis Kroģis, Ralfs Krūmiņš
Music by Raimonds Pauls
In Latvian and Russian with English subtitles
Up Next in Soviet Sixties: new waves and red rebellion
-
235,000,000: an original video essay ...
From Pedro Silva, the artist behind popular YouTube channel Plan-Séquence, this original video essay explores the method and the madness behind Uldis Brauns’ exquisite rendering of the diverse Soviet experience in 235,000,000.
-
Four White Shirts
Directed by Rolands Kalniņš • 1967 • USSR/Latvia
The countercultural spirit of the sixties runs through this cult musical drama from Latvia, which thumbed its nose at the prevailing Soviet orthodoxy of the era and was rarely screened as a result. By day, Cēzars Kalniņš is a telephone repairman; ...
-
Video Essay: Riding the Baltic New Wa...
Often described as Latvia’s answer to Jean-Luc Godard, Rolands Kalniņš was a maverick filmmaker whose work redefined the limits of cinema under Soviet censorship. In this new video essay, we explore how Kalniņš carved out a defiantly creative path, focusing on his psychedelic rock musical Fou...
