BUDINOK / DAS HAUS

The filmmakers Tatjana Kononenko and Matilda Mester take an almost contemplative approach in their graduation film from Berlin's German Film and Television Academy in Berlin to the entrances, exits, corridors and corners of the gigantic Derzhprom. People come and go, ride in the lift, discuss with one another. Water is fetched, flowers are sprayed. The ensemble of buildings was designed for numerous branches of industry – together with a theatre, cafeteria, dormitory, club and workrooms. It is still being used to this day. Even though it might be a stray bat who is not welcome.

The filmmakers combine footage shot on 16mm and digitally with archive material, inserted quotations as well as associative sounds, most notably a gong emphasising the tranquil observation. They make a conscious decision not to conduct any interviews, forego statements from users, experts or contemporary witnesses – pure observation. The Constructivist architectural style was supposed to provide an architectural equivalent for the promises of modernity and the socialist utopia. The film records what is left of the building – what remains of the history of ideas is left to viewer’s own interpretation. NaF