A two-channel film from Uzbekistan composed of footage sourced from 44 films, half made throughout the decade preceding the collapse of the Soviet Union and half in the decade that followed. Such layered content and form to reflect on political rupture and transition but also to explore the cinematic landscape of Central Asia that captured the spirit of Perestroika, or at least tried to. The title itself is a reference to Tchaikovsky’s opera, which was broadcast by the regime on state television on a loop during times of upheaval and crisis, including its own imminent dissolution. TV is also present through shots of the hypnotist Anatoly Kashpirovsky, who used to go on air in the late 1980s attempting to influence mass audiences in favour of the government (among those hypnotised was Ismailova’s grandmother). Towards the end of the film, the black-and-white fragments turn to colour and images of hope.

The three shorts in the Viewfinder section will be screened together:

Shot Reverse Shot

Swan Lake

Sawyer Avenue, Sunday Afternoon