Educational Media Reviews Online

“I want to make a confession. I used my camera as a weapon to manipulate a now defenseless person and she has been haunting me ever since,” begins filmmaker and narrator Marina Petrovskaia.

In 2000, Petrovskaia traveled to Germany to interview her Russian great-aunt about her experiences during World War II, which have always been a time she did not discuss.

In the course of the reluctantly given interview, the aunt reveals that the official story—that they were forced to work for the Germans during the war—is not true. Instead, she reveals, they saw the Germans as the lesser evil compared to the Bolsheviks and therefore worked willingly for them.

Hearing her aunt’s confession, leads to Petrovskaia questioning her motives in conducting the interview and a realization of how filmmakers manipulate their subjects and audiences.

Instead of filming a standard talking head interview, Petrovskaia uses unique editing techniques that create mystery and interest while quickly painting a portrait of the elderly aunt’s personality. Archival footage from World War II is also interspersed within to illustrate the narrative. Experimental techniques add rather than distract from the story being told, although there are some odd sound effects that were somewhat annoying.

Filmmaker Marina Petrovskaia has created fascinating mix of oral history, experimental editing, and commentary on how filmmakers manipulate a story. Suitable for use in classes on World War II, the Holocaust, women’s studies, or experimental films. Highly recommended.

For those interested in holocaust studies and experimental films see also Elida Schogt’s The Walnut Tree and Zyklon Portrait.

Awards

• Philadelphia Festival of World Cinema / Next Frame – Best Editing
• New York Exposition of Short Film and Video – Jury Award
• Double Take Documentary Film Festival
• Northwest Documentary Film Festival
• Museum of Modern Art, New York