Sergei Loznitsa takes us inside the Imperium

Welcome listeners old and new to season eight of the Klassiki Podcast! We’ve got ten more episodes coming up for you to take us up to the festive season, with returning guests and new voices, covering the great and the good of Eastern European film. Subscribe now to make sure you don’t miss an episode.

Sergei Loznitsa remains one of the biggest draws in Eastern European cinema today. The Ukrainian filmmaker moves freely between fiction and both observational and archival documentaries in his efforts to excavate the dark depths of Russian and Soviet history. His latest feature, Imperium, premiered at Venice earlier this year and is now coming to the UK this month as part of the BFI London Film Festival. It’s perhaps Loznitsa’s most ambitious archival documentary yet. Using a treasure trove of newly uncovered footage captured in the early seventies by visiting Italian filmmakers, Loznitsa constructs a vast and partisan panorama of life under communist rule, from the Baltic Sea to the Silk Road cities of Uzbekistan. Ahead of its London bow, host Sam Goff speaks with the director about taking the pluge with this material, the history of Soviet documentary, and the enduring power of national cultures.

The 70th BFI London Film Festival is taking place from 7-18 October. Find out more and stay tuned to the Klassiki Podcast and Journal for more coverage. You can get tickets for the screening of Imperium on Tuesday 13 October here.

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Intro music by Juliet Merchant.