Synopsis
THE RUSSIAN INDUSTRIAL CITY OF KARABASH, ONCE KNOWN AS THE DIRTIEST PLACE ON EARTH, IS TO BE TRANSFORMED INTO THE CLEANEST CITY IN THE WORLD AS A MODERN SHOWCASE. OVER A PERIOD OF SIX YEARS, THE FILM OBSERVES HOW THE INHABITANTS OF KARABASH, INFLUENCED BY DIFFERENT WORLD VIEWS, BELIEVE IN THE FACTORY AND THE PROMISED CHANGES, BUT IN THE PROCESS SUPPRESS THE REAL PROBLEMS.
Synopsis
Life in Karabash was as we imagine it in our worst visions of the future. From birth to death, Karabash‘s inhabitants inhaled toxic materials that attacked their mucous membranes, leading to respiratory diseases, skin diseases, and congenital malformations. The wildlife around the factory is still dead. Even the waters are blood-red – it is as if the Apocalypse has just become reality.
But now everything will be different: Karabash, is now supposed to be a modern, attractive city: A city centre with a church, a huge shopping centre with a cinema, a free-of-charge fitness centre, and a big square with a walk-in fountain with light and sound is to be built within a very short time. In addition, the effects of 100 years of environmental degradation are to be reversed: rivers will be diverted, trees planted, and turf spread.
The ambitious transformation of Karabash will be documented over a period of five years. During this time, both the physical changes in the city and the associated inner changes of our
protagonists will be shown. Our film is not only a universal document of the human mechanisms of repression in the face of a worldwide ecological disaster, but will also show how an authoritarian political system deals with one of the greatest challenges of our time, namely the destruction of the environment.
Stage of Production
Olga Delane has been researching and shooting in Karabash since May 2017. Doppelplusultra joined the project during the research phase in early 2019.
The research and shooting costs from May 2017 to October 2019 were financed with funds from the Robert Bosch cross-border scholarship, along with own investments and deferrals from Doppelplusultra and Olga Delane. A co-production was agreed with the Polish production company Arkana Studio.In January 2020, € 30 000 was acquired through the German-Polish Film Fund.
The project won the IDFA Forum Award for a Pitch at the East European Platform 2020 in Prague.
Release is planned for the end of 2024.
Stage of Production
Olga Delane has been researching and shooting in Karabash since May 2017. Doppelplusultra joined the project during the research phase in early 2019.
The research and shooting costs from May 2017 to October 2019 were financed with funds from the Robert Bosch cross-border scholarship, along with own investments and deferrals from Doppelplusultra and Olga Delane. A co-production was agreed with the Polish production company Arkana Studio.In January 2020, € 30 000 was acquired through the German-Polish Film Fund.
The project won the IDFA Forum Award for a Pitch at the East European Platform 2020 in Prague. During the development phase until July 2021, the key events in the transformation of Karabash will be shot. For example, the inauguration of the new adventure shopping centre in May 2020.
Release is planned for the end of 2024.
Director’s Motivation
I was born and raised in Krasnokamensk, a city with a similar ecological problem. In my Siberian hometown, the largest uranium mine in Asia is operated. The environment there is extremely polluted.
In 2013, I shot my first documentary film “Endstation Krasnokamensk. A reunion with the homeland”, about the city and its inhabitants. Since then, I have been interested in the topic of “Man and the depletion of nature”.
When I was in Karabash for the first time in 2017, the poisoned air literally took my breath away. “How can you get used to it?” was my first thought. This question motivated me to stay and make a film, but not about the environment, but about the inhabitants.
Over the years, I have built a close relationship with all the protagonists of the film. This allows me to access very personal stories. The most important thing for me is to uncover their inner changes and needs.
I am interested in the mechanisms of repression that society uses to shape its own reality – the filter bubbles we live in. This own reality is more shaped by ideologies and social norms and wishful thinking than “reality”.
The example of Karabash and its inhabitants is very memorable. As an outsider, one is impressed by the brute image of environmental destruction. But this is obscured by another reality. During the Soviet era, people here lived in the certainty of being part of a great utopian social project. In the 1990s, the ideology of capitalism replaced communism. And today there is a synthesis of religious fundamentalism, capitalism and patriotism.
The real problem, the destruction of the environment, stands thereby completely in the background and is totally suppressed.
I do not speak out generally against ideologies and values. It is clear to me that these are the cornerstones of any society, that through common values, norms, religions, etc. a society is only possible.
An ideology gives the individual, as long as it serves this in society freedoms and a certain security. On the other hand, ideology suppresses the free development of other, uncomfortable and contrary ideas and world views. It seems more convenient to repress uncomfortable realities that are not in the canon of the prevailing ideology. These mechanisms of repression are found not only in Karabash, but also here in the West.
What is evident in Karabash is a universal problem, which is more extreme there than elsewhere. In view of the environmental pollution, people ignore these problems because there are supposedly more important issues.
Since Corona and the beginning of the war in Ukraine, the biggest problem of our planet is suddenly no longer relevant. Something else, defending our values and ideologies (no matter which side you are on), now takes precedence. This change of beliefs, ideologies, priorities, creation of individual realities fascinates me. I want to touch the audience emotionally with my film and hold a mirror up to them, hoping that the viewer will self-critically question their beliefs and image of reality.
In doing so, I do not want to trivialize or explain the war. I condemn Russia’s policy. But it is, in my eyes, important to present and expose the mechanisms of how people are manipulated and build an alternative reality.
These problems and fatal mechanisms do not exist only in Russia and Karabash.
Karabash is everywhere.
Director’s Motivation
We all have a deep longing for a healthy, ecologically perfect, peaceful world.
At the same time, we see that the world is on the brink of collapse. And what do we do? We change our eating habits, and calm our consciences with nice gestures and banal words despite the fact that we still suspect that all this is not enough – we are not getting to the root of the problems, simply concealing the impending downfall with goodwill.
But life goes on. We all want to work, shop, vacation somewhere. And the revolution is cancelled. So we continue repressing and covering up the reality.
Do we differ in any way from the inhabitants of Karabash? Everything in Karabash is conveniently pushed to the surface and excellently suitable for a film. But the mechanisms of displacement are the same everywhere. In every protagonist we find a piece of ourselves.
For me, there are not only parallels of political repression in different countries, but also between political and personal repression. Just as a political system is based on castles in the sky (or the image of the new Switzerland), people also tend to cling to illusions.
But are illusions not a good way to change reality, sometimes? What revolution was undertaken without the illusion and hope that it would make humanity happier in the long run?
Olga Delane
Olga Delane
Olga Delane, is a photographer, editor and director. After successfully training as a fashion designer and photographer, she made several photo and research trips to Russia in the 2010s.
There, she shot her first film, Endstation Krasnokamensk, which was funded by the DEFA Foundation.
Her feature documentary Siberian Love (2016) was a little indie hit in Germany. It was screened more than 300 times in German cinemas and is still running on German TV. It also achieved international success at renowned festivals like IDFA, and was sold in more than 10 territories.
Her last documentary Dorotchka was nominated for a Lola, the most important German Short Film Award.
Filmography
2022 Welcome to New Karabash (90 min) – Documentary in development
2018 Dorotchka (30 min) Short Documentary – IDFA Short Film competition, nominated for the Lola German Film Award
2016 Siberian Love – Documentary (90 min) – IDFA and 20 other international festivals
2013 Endstation Krasnokamensk (90min)- Documentary co-directed with Marianne Kapfer
Olga Delane
Olga Delane, is a photographer, editor and director. After successfully training as a fashion designer and photographer, she made several photo and research trips to Russia in the 2010s.
There, she shot her first film, Endstation Krasnokamensk, which was funded by the DEFA Foundation.
Her feature documentary Siberian Love (2016) was a little indie hit in Germany. It was screened more than 300 times in German cinemas and is still running on German TV. It also achieved international success at renowned festivals like IDFA, and was sold in more than 10 territories.
Her last documentary Dorotchka was nominated for a Lola, the most important German Short Film Award.
Filmography
2022 Welcome to New Karabash (90 min) – Documentary in development
2018 Dorotchka (30 min) Short Documentary – IDFA Short Film competition, nominated for the Lola German Film Award
2016 Siberian Love – Documentary (90 min) – IDFA and 20 other international festivals
2013 Endstation Krasnokamensk (90min)- Documentary co-directed with Marianne Kapfer
Fact Sheet
Genre:
Creative documentary
Director:
Olga Delane
Script:
Dmitri Vologdin
Olga Delane
Calle Overweg
Editor:
Philipp Gromov
Producers:
Frank Müller
Doppelplusultra Filmproduktion
Country of Production:
Germany
Country of Shooting:
Russia
Stage of Production:
End of development
Language:
Russian
Budget:
350.000,00 €
In Place
150.000,00 €
Funded by:
MOIN Filmförderung Hamburg
Robert Bosch Stiftung
Deutsch-Polnischer Filmfonds
Release:
November 2024
Fact Sheet
Director:
Olga Delane
Script:
Calle Overweg
Olga Delane
Editor:
Philipp Gromov
Producers:
Frank Müller
Doppelplusultra Filmproduktion, Germany
Dorota Roszkowska, Arkana Studio, Poland
Development
Country of production:
Germany, Poland
Country of shooting:
Russia
Production Stage:
Language:
Russian
Budget:
€310.000
In Place:
€50.000
Funded by:
MOIN Filmförderung Hamburg
Robert Bosch Stiftung
Deutsch-Polnischer Filmfonds
Release:
November 2022
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