Moscow Summer

Documentary, 80 minutes, 1996

Moscow Summer is a street-level portrait of Moscow and its people. Following the course of a single summer this documentary explores the nuances of the city and the moods of its people — their hopes, their fears, their disappointments. Throughout the film, compelling visual sequences are interwoven with impromptu “on–the–street” interviews. In this way, resonances grow from the combination of the ideas arising in testimony with the sensuous impact of the candid images. So while Moscow’s social and political turmoil form an undercurrent in the film, ultimately Moscow Summer is a film about love and humanity, and those are the qualities with which it has been made.

Amnon Buchbinder, Toronto International Film Festival:

Never less than totally captivating, never less than ravishing.

Ingird Randoja, Now Magazine:

 **** Moving…gorgeous black–and–white photography.

Stew Slater, SEE Magazine:

 ***1/2 Captivating!

Fast Forward Magazine (review/interview):

A truly unique documentary that conveys both ideas and feelings in an artful way.

Selected Festival Screenings:

  • Galerie Nationale du Jeu de Paume, Paris, France, 1999
  • Festival of Words, Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, 1998
  • Saskatchewan Showcase, Saskatchewan, Canada, 1997 — Winner Best Cinematography award
  • Palm Springs Film Festival, Palms Springs, California, 1997
  • WorldFest International Film Festival, Charleston, South Carolina, 1996 — Winner Best Foreign Film award
  • Toronto International Film Festival, Toronto, Canada, 1996
 CREDITS
Produced, Directed and Photographed by Robin Schlaht
Music by Jeff Frank
Sound Design Pat Butler
Sound Recordist Alexei Klimov
Editor Robin Schlaht
Research Assistant Ksenia Stepanenko
Interviewer Natasha Erukhimovich
Production Assistants Nikholai Orlov
Oksana Medvedeva
Pavel Stelnikov
Subtitles Anna Mnushkin
Thanks to Victor Erukhimovich
Julia Ivanova
Maria Melnikova
Alexei Gladkov
Michael Masteravoy
Raisa K. Fomina
Igor Kokarev
Todd Irving
Scott Collins
Irina Angel
Bernard Lavigne
Richard Kerr
Stephan Onda
Stephan Hall
Ron Jacobs
Elizabeth Flynn
and The Ascension Orthodox School
Moscow Boarding School #2
Moroz Records
Intercinema
Special thanks to Svetlana Mikhaeleva
Igor Erukhimovich
Irina Poselenova
Made with the financial participation of:
The Saskatchewan Filmpool Cooperative
The Saskatchewan Arts Board
The Canada Council
National Film Board of Canada (PAFPS)
Saskatchewan Communications Network
SaskFilm
Filmed entirely in Moscow, Russia
June – August 1995