Klassiki are proud to partner with Bertha DocHouse, the UK’s only cinema dedicated to documentary, for a season of films that explore the intersection of memory and poetry.

In cinema and online from 4th April.
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Bridges of Time
2018 | Kristine Briede, Audrius Stonys
The Baltic “poetic documentary” of the 1960s redefined non-fiction, moving away from realism towards romance and the metaphysical. Stonys and Briede’s documentary celebrates this tradition and questions its role in the modern world.

With an introduction from director Audrius Stonys.
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Fragile Memory
2022 | Ihor Ivanko
National and personal histories merge when a young filmmaker uncovers a previously unpublished archive of photographs by his grandfather, celebrated Ukrainian cinematographer Leonid Burlaka.

With a recorded introduction from director Ihor Ivanko.
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Online: The Woman and the Glacier
2016 | Audrius Stonys
This portrait of reclusive glaciologist Ausra Revutaite from Lithuanian documentary heavyweight Audrius Stonys is a study in human solitude and the majesty and fragility of the natural world.
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Online: 235,000,000
1967 | Uldis Brauns
A landmark in the Baltic poetic documentary tradition, 235,000,000 was one of the most ambitious films of the Soviet ‘60s. Brauns’ film presents a series of tableaux from Soviet life, from affairs of state to everyday life, stretching from the Baltic Sea to the Pacific coast. Eschewing voiceover or commentary, Brauns allows its timeless images to speak for themselves.
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Online: Year of the Dragon
1988 | Andres Sööt
Andres Sööt’s portrait of Estonian society over the course of 1988, when the movement for national independence came to a thrilling head. Sööt’s newsreel-style account of a nation coming to consciousness injects political urgency into the poetic documentary project.
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Read more: Baltic poetic documentary
On the Klassiki Journal, we introduce the Baltic poetic documentary movement that redefined Soviet non-fiction in the 1960s. Learn about the filmmakers behind this lyrical and subversive new wave, which maintains a profound influence across the post-socialist world.
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Read more: Ukrainian poetic cinema
On the Klassiki Journal, explore our curated watchlist of films from the Ukrainian poetic cinema movement that exploded onto Soviet screens in the mid-1960s. Drawing on folk culture and imagining a world beyond the confines of Soviet control, these filmmakers helped forge a cinematic identity for Ukraine the resonates deeply today.
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