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Moment of Impact

Julia Loktev
1997 United States 117 minutes English; Russian

On April Fool’s Day, 1989, a man crossing the road between two garage sales was hit by a car. In that one instant, he became a different person, an impenetrable being stuck between life and death. This is a film made by his daughter, who tries to get at both the absent fleeting moment and its very present, lasting impact on her family Russian immigrants marooned in suburban Colorado. She tries to man??uver her camera into the isolated worlds of her father, who has irreparable brain damage, and her mother, who left her career as a computer programmer to care for him at home. The film chronicles her mother’s often bizarre attempts to maintain her sanity and sense of humour while tending to the basic needs of a man who has long ceased to be her husband. The characters in this story exist in a kind of suspended state, a daily repetitious loop, waiting with no end in sight.

Julia Loktev

Née à Saint-Petersbourg en 1969, arrivée enfant aux Etats–Unis devenue DJ, puis journaliste pour la radio, elle travaille sur le son, crée des installations vidéo et les expose au cours de manifestations internationales. Elle vient au cinéma après des études à la McGill University et au NYU Graduate Film Program. Elle a réalisé, entre autres • Privy, 1995 • Sweeter than wine, 1996 • Moment of Impact, 1999

Production :
Melanie Judd
Editing :
Julia Loktev
Sound :
Julia Loktev
Photography :
Julia Loktev

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