Gorbachev. Heaven
Mikhail Gorbachev, the 89-year-old former leader of the Soviet Union, receives Russian filmmaker Vitaly Mansky at his house just outside Moscow. In a light and pleasant atmosphere, weighty topics come up for discussion, as Gorbachev looks back over his life. The conversation revolves around the reforms he implemented in the 1980s, as well as the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, followed by the collapse of the Soviet empire. Also discussed is how the Russian people were not grateful when the new freedoms proved to come at the price of unemployment and hunger. Jokes, spontaneous interruptions, or suddenly remembered folk songs and poems bring lightness to the reflections on political decisions. (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam)
Director's Filmography (Selection)
Gorbachev. Heaven (2020, doc) - Svideteli Putina (Putin's Witnesses, 2018, doc; CE'19) - Rodnye (Close Relations, 2016, doc, CE'17) - V paprscích slunce (Under the Sun 2015, doc) - Truba (Pipeline, 2013, doc) - Rodina ili smert (Motherland or Death, 2011, doc) - Nasha rodina (Gagarin’s Pioneers, 2005, doc) - Brodvey. Chernoe more (Broadway. Black Sea, 2002, doc) - Evreyskoe schaste (Jewish Happiness, 1991)
Gorbachev. Heaven (2020, doc) - Svideteli Putina (Putin's Witnesses, 2018, doc; CE'19) - Rodnye (Close Relations, 2016, doc, CE'17) - V paprscích slunce (Under the Sun 2015, doc) - Truba (Pipeline, 2013, doc) - Rodina ili smert (Motherland or Death, 2011, doc) - Nasha rodina (Gagarin’s Pioneers, 2005, doc) - Brodvey. Chernoe more (Broadway. Black Sea, 2002, doc) - Evreyskoe schaste (Jewish Happiness, 1991)
European Panorama Documentary 2021
Vitaly Mansky
Latvia / Czech Republic 2020
color
100 minutes
Russian OV with English subtitles
Screenplay Vitaly Mansky, Alexander Gelman
Cinematography Alexandra Ivanova
Editing Yevgeny Rybalko
Sound/Sounddesign Anrijs Krenbergs
Music Kārlis Auzāns
With Mikhail Gorbachev
Producer(s) Natalia Manskaja, Vit Klusak, Filip Remunda
Production
Vertov, Hypermarket Film, ARTE G.E.I.E., Czech Television, Current Time TV
World Sales
Deckert Distribution
Austrian Premiere
World Premiere
IDFA 2020