Piter (2004)

Brother and sister Gorter made a variegated portrait of Piter, or St. Petersburg, through seven of its inhabitants. Poles apart in age, affluence and personality, their lives cross paths now and then. Elderly people like the 87-year-old Jelena Jakovlevna still live in the past; her apartment has furniture from before the communist revolution and still has a portrait of Stalin on the wall. To a young and successful publicity agent, the names Lenin and Stalin do not mean a whole lot anymore. A former party bigwig is now a thriving capitalist; an ex-journalist who thought the Brezhnev era would never end is on the breadline nowadays. The film, featuring Frank Gorter's striking music, meanwhile also shows life in the streets of St. Petersburg and the diverse interiors of the houses and workplaces of the seven Piter men and women.