Like an abandoned alien spaceship, unloved and uncared for, the building of Dostoevsky’s Drama Theatre stands on the bank of Volkhov River, only a kilometer away from the walls of famous Novgorod Kremlin. Erected during the final years of Soviet Rule, this remarkable example of modernist architecture has, for many decades, continued to mock the ancient heritage of the city, as well as the mediocre tastes of its populace. The story of theatre’s uneasy survival, its persistent inability to fit into the surroundings in Novgorod, and its slow but sure demise at the hands of greedy bureaucrats become a direct metaphor for the Russian society today.
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
A graduate of American Film Institute, Andrei Rozen directed, co-directed and edited award-winning documentaries and commercials. From 2002 to 2007 Rozen lived in the city of his birth, Moscow where he worked as an assignment photographer for magazines such as Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar and Swedish Elle. Currently, Rozen resides in Oakland, CA where he runs a commercial photography studio and works on his documentary projects.