Goodbye Soviet Union
(Hüvasti, NSVL)
Year: 2020
Country:
ESTONIA
Run Time:
86 minutes
Johannes’ life was unconventional from the start. Not knowing who his father was, Johannes’ mother wrote that Lenin was the father on his birth certificate. After all, as his grandfather says, “Lenin is the father to all fatherless children in the Soviet Union.” After his rebellious mother leaves to find work in Finland, Johannes is left with his conservative grandparents, where he is raised in an idyllic secret village surrounding a uranium plant. But after an accident with a contaminated body of water, Johannes loses half his hair and the family is forced to find another place to live—leading to a new series of calamities. As western influence expands throughout the Soviet Union, and the Soviet leaders struggle to hold onto their dwindling power, Johannes’ family is stuck somewhere in the middle, often in some pretty absurd situations. A hilarious coming-of-age satire, GOODBYE SOVIET UNION follows Johannes as he navigates the complexities of growing up in the Estonian Soviet Republic, just as the sun is setting on the Soviet empire. (In Estonian, Finnish, and Russian with subtitles) — G.S.
CIFF45 Screenings
On Demand
Thursday, April 08, 2021 at 11:00 AM -
Tuesday, April 20, 2021 at 11:59 PM
Access: United States and US Territories
Accessibility (?)
Closed Captions: No
Audio Description: No
English Subtitles: Yes
Competition
George Gund III Memorial Central and Eastern European Competition
Director
Lauri Randla
Producers
Peeter Urbla, Mark Lwoff, Misha Jaari
Screenwriting
Lauri Randla
Cinematography
Elen Lotman
Editing
Leo Liesvirta, Andres Hallik
Principal Cast
Niklas Kouzmitchev, Nika Savolainen, Ülle Kaljuste, Tõnu Oja, Pääru Oja, Jekaterina Novosjolova, Elene Baratašvili, Dima Bespalov, Anne Reemann, Piret Krumm, Sten Karpov, Viktor Lanberg, Enrico Oja
Film Sponsors
Scott and Kate Gaines
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