900 Days

Regisseur: Jessica Gorter

Is it better to acknowledge the almost unpalatable truth, or to embrace the comfort of a myth? From September 1941 until January 1944, Leningrad was sieged and blockaded by the German army. For 900 days, the nearly three million inhabitants were trapped inside the city like rats. In subzero temperatures people had to eat glue, leather soles, cats, and sometimes even their fellow human beings. After 900 days, alsmost a million people had died. All this took place in a country where propaganda was more important than truth. For decades afterwards the survivors were forbidden to speak about what had happened to them so that the heroic myth of the “land of victors” would not be undermined. And now, with Putin in power, the myth is being revived. What starts as a film about personal testimonies of the blockade of Leningrad gradually turns into an epic story about how censorship, propaganda and fear get a grip on the memories of the main characters. A struggle that is still ongoing today.

Jury Report IDFA 2011, winner Best Dutch Documentary
'A film about today’s Russia through the dark and painful hidden memories of a tragedy that took place 70 years ago. A haunting film, that is not about heroes but about victims, that stands against interpretation and defies the barriers of being judgmental. A film that peels the crust of propaganda from around the naked body of pain. Truth is only possible through the eyes and voices of human beings, not in historical volumes or in state discourses…'
www.900dagen.nl

director

Jessica Gorter

Independent filmmaker focusing on post-soviet Russia. She directed, produced and shot several documentaries among which 'Piter', 'No Goods Today' and 'Ferryman across the Volga' (prix de RTBF). For the theatre play ‘Quarantaine’ she made a series of portraits of survivors of the siege of Leningrad.
Her films have been shown at many different film festivals and broadcasted in various different countries. She also directed tv-programs for Dutch television (Human, VPRO) and worked as an editor for various documentaries.

credits

director: Jessica Gorter
cinematography: Sander Snoep
montage: Danniel Danniel
sound recording: Menno Euwe
sound design: Tom Bijnen
executive producer: Jorinde Sorée, Judith Vreriks
commissioning editor IKON: Margje de Koning
produced by Frank van den Engel
In coproduction with IKON
This film was supported by the Netherlands Film Fund and CoBO. International Sales: Deckert Distribution & Icarus Films (USA)
Dutch distribution: Mokum film

news

900 DAYS will be broadcast

900 DAYS will be broadcast in The Netherlands July 17th, at 23.00 hr. (IKON/Holland Doc).

Special screenings 900 Days in Russia

From January 26 - 31 900 Days will be screened several times in St. Petersburg en Moskou because of the Remembrance Day of the Leningrad Blockade, January 27 1944. Director Jessica Gorter will be present after the screenings. For more information please visit 900days or proektfabrika (in Russian) or CDKino Rusland (in Russian).

900 Days

The North American Premiere of 900 Days is coming up!!! The film will screen January 9 at the Palm Springs Festival. Director Jessica Gorter will be attending the screenings.

DVD presentation

Tomorrow (Friday December 21st) the 900 Days DVD will be presented during the end-of-the-year gathering at bookstore Pegasus from 17.00 hrs - 91.00 hrs, singel 367 in Amsterdam. everybody is welcome. Director Jessica Gorter will be there and she will elaborate on the various reactions to film.

900 Days on Dutch TV

Prize Winning film 900 Days (o.a Best Dutch Documentary IDFA 2011) by Jessica Gorter wil be broadcast on Thursday 15th of November at 22:58 hrs by IKON NL2.

900 Days

900 Days by Jessica Gorter is selected for competition at the Netherlands Film Festival 2012. Screeningtimes: Thursday 27/9 at 20.00 hrs in Wolff City 3; Thursday 4/10 at 17.15 uur in Louis Hartlooper Complex 3.

900 Dagen

900 DAYS by Jessica Gorter screens at London's Frontline Club on Oct. 12, 2012 at 19:00. Jessica Gorter is present for a Q&A with Anna Reid, author of "Leningrad: Tragedy of a City Under Siege 1941-44".

900 Days in VARIETY review

VARIETY recensent Jay Weissberg saw 900 Days at the Transylvania Film Festival in Romania: ...superb docu, which captures in 77 deeply troubling minutes the contradiction between the official version of a heroic populace persevering for the Motherland, and the private bitterness of a people disgusted by the way the Soviets and their heirs avoid questions of responsibility. Beautifully lensed and expertly edited, this throat-gripping look at history and its continuing ramifications won the top Dutch docu prize at IDFA.

Lees de complete recensie op de website van Variety

900 Days will be screened in Arnhem

900 Days will be screened in Focus Filmtheater in Arnhem July 30th at 7.30 pm .

Special Mention for 900 DAYS in Warsaw

900 DAYS receives the Special Mention of the Magic Hour Award at the 9th Planete+ Doc Film Festival in Warsaw

The jury praised the film of Jessica Gorter as „an impressive confrontation of the heroic myth created by authorities for political purposes with intimate memories of victims – all presented in intense and straight to the point way."

900 DAYS in Dutch cinemas

In 900 Days, survivors of the Blockade of Leningrad during World War II, finally dare to talk about their personal memories.

900 Days can be seen in more than 10 theaters throughout the Netherands, visit Mokum film for exact screening times.

Prizes for 900 Days at the Vision du Réel in Nyon

900 Days of Jessica Gorter is awarded with the Prize of the Interreligious Jury at the Visions du Réel in Nyon. Also, the film received the Special Mention for the Grand Prix. Jury comments from the Interreligious Jury : "The film focuses in a multi-layered manner the siege of Leningrad in the Second World War. The filmmaker succeeds to show precisely and touching the opposite between individual memory of the contemporary witness and the exploited history by politics by means of an elaborated composition between sound and image. Individual destinies question the official sight towards the past and demonstrate the manipulation of humans and their memories."

The film will be screened in multiple Dutch cinemas, including Amsterdam, Den Bosch, Alkmaar and Maastricht. For more information: www.900dagen.nl or www.mokumfilm.nl.

Prizes for 900 Days at Vision du Réel in Nyon

900 Days by Jessica Gorter is awarded with the Prize of the Interreligious Jury and received the Special Mention for the Grand Prix at Visions du Réel in Nyon.

900 Days

selected for Visions du Reel in Nyon. The film participates in the International Competition for Feature films and will be screened April 26 and 27.

Russian Premiere 900 DAYS

‎900 DAYS will have it’s Russian premiere on Friday December 9th in Moscow at the artdocfest.
The film is selected for the main competition program and will be the closing film of the festival.

Award for 900 DAYS