Soviet Bus Stops
7.7
“There’s a bus stop I want to photograph.” This may sound like a parody of an esoteric festival film, but Canadian Christopher Herwig’s photography project is entirely in earnest, and likely you will be won over by his passion for this unusual subject within the first five minutes. Soviet architecture of the 1960s and 70s was by and large utilitarian, regimented, and mass-produced. Yet the bus stops Herwig discovers on his journeys criss-crossing the vast former Soviet Bloc are something else entirely: whimsical, eccentric, flamboyantly artistic, audacious, colourful. They speak of individualism and locality, concepts anathema to the Communist doctrine. Herwig wants to know how this came to pass and tracks down some of the original unsung designers, but above all he wants to capture these exceptional roadside way stations on film before they disappear.
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Cast
1 person
Kristoffer Hegnsvad Director · Nicholas Zajicek Cinematographer Jason Britski Editor
First release October 2, 2022 · Produced in Canada, Denmark · Languages English, Estonian, Latvian, Russian, Ukrainian
Production
Empty Chairs
Production
Canada · Denmark
Produced in
Languages
Original language
English
Spoken on screen
English · Estonian · Latvian · Russian · Ukrainian
Release dates
Canada · October 2, 2022
Premiere · Vancouver International Film Festival
No release date listed for United States.
Denmark
March 19, 2023 · Premiere · CPHDOX
Hong Kong SAR China
December 1, 2023 · Premiere · MOViE MOViE: Life is Art 2023
South Korea
September 17, 2023 · Premiere · DMZ International Documentary Film Festival
Taiwan
May 24, 2024 · Theatrical
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