Leningrad, 1970: Under the guise of attending a family wedding, a group of audacious young Jewish dissidents plots to hijack an empty plane and escape the USSR. Caught by the KGB a few steps from boarding, they are tried for treason and sentenced to years in the gulag; two death sentences are commuted following world outrage. 45 years later, the filmmaker who is the daughter of the dissidents, and her mother, retrace the group’s journey from a Soviet airport to a KGB prison. Cigarettes and vodka fuel interviews with the parents filled with intelligence and humor. Archives, reenactments and interviews with KGB officers enhance this inspiring story of young Jews who imagined freedom and cracked the Iron Curtain.
film details
Documentary / Dir: Anat Zalmanson-Kuznetsov / 2016 Israel-Latvia / Hebrew, English, Russian w/English subtitles / 62 min
festivals
San Diego Jewish Film Festival 2017; Israeli Film Festival of Philadelphia 2017; Tel Aviv Hakhel Festival 2016; Tel Aviv Israel Film Festival, Women Directors Week 2016; Art Doc Fest 2016; Canada International Film Festival Vancouver
