film

The Personal File of Anna Akhmatova

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Director(s)	Maryna Albert
Release Date	1991
Runtime	63 min
Youth Media	n

Film Description

Anna Akhmatova is one of the most important poetic voices of the twentieth century, a legend in the Soviet Union. PERSONAL FILE vividly portrays the life and struggles of this celebrated poet, who was persecuted by the Soviet state throughout her literary career. Born in 1889, Akhmatova refused to leave the Soviet Union even during the bleakest times, becoming a forceful voice against repression. Based on excerpts from her biography and the memoirs of the writer Lidiya Chukovskaya, PERSONAL FILE is itself a haunting, visual poem and a photographic catalog of her times. The filmmakers' footage of Akhmatova's funeral, locked away for 20 years, is seen for the first time. Other archival footage features candid glimpses of Soviet leaders, and Akhmatova's important Russian literary counterparts, including Blok, Gumilev, Mandelstam, Pasternak, and Solzhenitsyn.