Doc/Fest - Sheffield

A set of young international filmmakers travelled the mythic Trans-Siberian Express across Russia, stopping at lesser known cities along the way with the common theme of ‘borders’ in their lenses. This omnibus encounters traditional and modern Russians discussing what it means to be Russian twenty years after the fall of the Soviet Union. Mirroring the cinetrain concept that worked under the guidance of Aleksandr Medvedkin in the 1930s, the Cinetrain documentaries give a voice to those who were not normally heard. But sometimes people open up more when they speak to a foreigner, - its this candor that gives Cinetrain its real power. In its sixparts, Cinetrain explores a Russia divided between Europe and Asia, between old spirits and new ideas. As a whole it is a light and free spirited peek into the best young documentarians of Europe reporting from Russia’s changing cultural frontier.