1989 -1991
THE JOURNEY FROM PETERSBURG TO MOSCOW
Путешествие из Петербурга в Москву
116 min, 35mm, 4K digitization
Director/Co-Production: Viola Stephan
Cinematography: Pavel Lebeshev
Music: Peter Gordon
Zeughauskino Screenings:
Hinter dem Gießhaus 3 • Berlin-Mitte
The idea for The Journey from Petersburg to Moscow stems from Alexander Radishchev’s 1790 novel of the same name—a literary protest against oppression. Branded dangerous, Radishchev was first sentenced to death by Catherine II and later exiled to Siberia. In the Soviet Union, his critique of tsarist conditions was embraced as a foundation for socialist thought.
Two centuries later, just months before the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Viola Stephan retraced the route with a small team. For her, the journey became a shift in perspective and a meditation on time itself. Encounters unfold slowly: a woman steps outside to lament her hardship while searching for butter; others share fears, speak of family, chance, or their view of Gorbachev.
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Stephan assembles these fragments into a mosaic of society between dance clubs, cadet schools, and choirs—immersing viewers in small-town life and conversations that reveal the lived consequences of political and economic change.
It is March 1991
Stephan assembles these fragments into a mosaic of society between dance clubs, cadet schools, and choirs—immersing viewers in small-town life and conversations that reveal the lived consequences of political and economic change.