Early Works (Blokada / Paysage)

PAYSAGE is representative of Sergei Loznitsa's early work, which moves between documentary and experimental film. With a calm gaze and precise observation, he focuses on everyday life in the barren Russian province, its rhythms, faces and landscapes – a space to which he returns years later with his first feature film, STSCHASTJE MOJO.

BLOKADA marks another turning point: Loznitsa's first found footage collage reconstructs the 900-day siege of Leningrad during the Second World War using long-unknown footage. Without commentary, the film condenses history into a chronicle of survival. Together, both works demonstrate the formal and thematic range of a director who views history and the present with equal rigour.
(Florian Widegger)