Odessa Steps 2022

Category: Experimental Film

Artist: Tan Tan

Special Thanks: Tetiana (Ukraine), Guo Xiaodong

Duration: 14:30

Production year:  2022

• Participated in the film campaign by New Asian Filmmakers Collective, “Against the War, in the Name of Cinema”, 2022

• DMZ International Documentary Film Festival, Seoul, September, 2022

• 10th Reel China Biennial at NYU, New York University, October, 2022

• HiShorts! Film Festival, Experimental Shortlisted, Xiamen, December, 2022

 Synopsis

This film cross-cut the "Odessa Steps" chapter from the famous war movie "Battleship Potemkin" (1925) and the actual footage of the Russo-Ukrainian conflict in 2022. It uses a 21st-century "Montage d'Attraction" to explore The circle of history, the contradictions of civilization, and the crisis of life.

Director’s Statement

The Soviet film director Sergei M. Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin (1925) is a must-see work for every Chinese who has studied film major - including me. However, it was not until February 24, 2022, when Russia launched the war against Ukraine, that I finally realized that the famous "Odessa Steps" of the movie is actually in Ukraine today. A century ago, Russians and Ukrainians belonged to one country, so now, why do Russians attack their former compatriots? Why does the brutal war scene in the film still look unchanged today?

In today's world, no one is an "outsider". Let us keep the peace together.

This film is dedicated to everyone who suffered in the war.