Bye Bye Babushka

JORIS IVENS AWARD

A spectrum of women from towns and cities across Russia speak out. Born during time of the 1917 Revolution, they came of age during Stalin’s reign and have survived to see the disintegration of their ‘motherland’. As we meet these women, a special generation, at the end of their lives and the end of the Soviet era, their compelling, often wildy divergent testimonies encompass the struggle and passion that was in Russia in the 20th century. These women persevered everything from: KGB interrogations and imprisonment to collective farm quotas to starvation and the loss of loved ones. Their survival despite overwhelming obstacles is a testament to hope and the tenacity of the human spirit.