Pismo

Sergei Loznitsa’s enigmatic black-and-white footage has been archived for a decade. Now, however, it has expanded his filmography, which betrays a dogged interest in the inhabitants of the former Soviet bloc. In this short doc from somewhere in northwestern Russia, the director works primarily with the uncertainty of where it all takes place, while giving the shots and the indistinct figures contained within them an aura of utter timelessness. The palpable impression of isolation here progresses to the revelation of a secret which clearly states that quiet doesn’t necessarily mean safety. (Karlovy Vary International Film Festival)