San Francisco International Film Festival 2010

[Chris Knipp]

Kolaskaya, Nekrasov: Russian Lessons (2009)


ANDREI NEKRASOV IN RUSSIAN LESSONS

Bold but confusing documentary about Russia and Georgia post 1989

Andrei Nekrasov and his late wife Olga Konskaya teamed up during fighting to expose Russia's ethnic cleansing of Georgia and reveal the complicity of international media, particularly the BBC, in perpetrating what they assert to be Vladimir Putin's distorted version of the facts and the Russian army's disinformation campaigns without challenge. The couple assert that after the fall of the Soviet Union Russia took violent action to suppress Georgia's aim of joining the West. What they went to cover was a second "war" that took place, in South Ossetia in 2008, with Georgian land troops and Russian bombs. Because Konskaya is approaching the beleaguered region from the north and Nekrasov is in the south where the refugees are and they send their digital footage back and forth, he is able to show the refugees images of their destroyed houses. Afterwards they take their footage home to their native St. Petersburg where their editing process also becomes a part of the film.

The title comes from a school workbook the filmmakers found on a ruined living room floor, but obviously the "lessons" are not just linguistic but political, and the film has much instruction to offer. Ultimately though it succeeds more as a demonstration of raw on-the-scene journalism -- with interesting footage of the couple working together and trading information back and forth -- than as an analytical documentary. The filmmakers plunge into their investigation, filming the destruction, interviewing refugees and survivors about conditions before and after both the 1991 attacks and recent ones, before the unspecialized viewer has gotten a clear idea of the historical background or identity of the parties involved. A coverage of the immediate aftermath of bombings may not be the best way to present the issues.

Midway in the 110 minutes the filmmakers shift their focus to an exploration of the origins of the atrocities in the 1990's, and the "pragmatism" that led western powers to make nice with Putin whatever he might be doing in his backyard. It is a bit late for that by then. In fact all this would have worked far better at the beginning,not half way through. The result is that material that would be heart-wrenching in the right context gets somewhat lost in the presentation. Nonetheless there are powerful current and archival images, including dead and maimed Georgian children and a planeload of refugees about to be shot down by a Russian fighter plane. We know Nekrasov, and especially his wife, who was terminally ill, are brave and intransigent reporters, but this material would work better in the context of a wider ranging, better organized Russian lesson that established its historical background at the outset. Still, Nekrasov's image-by-image analysis of news stories vs. actual footage to show how Russian, German, and BBC reporting distorted the recent Russian-Georgian battle of South Ossetia is extremely telling and valuable. He points to Milesovic-like crimes perpetrated on Georgians and other minorities by Russia in the past two decades. With its vivid images and first-hand accounts of atrocities, this film will have you walking out wanting a good stiff drink.

Olga Konskaya and Andrei Nekrasov's prior documentary, Rebellion: The Litvinenko Case, about the mysterious assassination by poisoning of Russian KGB/KSB officer turned dissident, Alexandr Litvinenko, who had fled to London, has been banned in Russia. Russian Lessons was introduced to the American audience at Sundance, where it was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize in the World Cinema - Documentary category. Seen at the San Francisco International Film Festival 2010.