Пределы архива: Блокада Сергея Лозницы
The Limits of Archive: The Siege (2006) by Sergei Loznitsa

Summary/Abstract: The article questions the order of contemporary film archive working with cinematic documents of mass extermination, dying and suffering. It scrutinizes how forms of historical memory based on archive footage are constructed, what “acceptance” of these forms by general and professional public tells us about the collective identity of “acceptees” and configuration of their historical memory. The analysis shows what form of archive is created/ supported by the narrative strategies of the film The Siege by Sergei Loznitsa (2006), first of all by the visual and sound montage; what kind of power position it transmits, and how this film answers the question about the meaning of the WWII representation in Russia today. The analysis of The Siege by Loznitsa shows that historical memory consensus in the film form (probably, not only in Russia) pays its price: it engages into the retro-scenario (Jean Baudrillard, Thomas Elsaesser). It proves that archiving conventions are hardly to change significantly as long as the order of “witnessing” is grounded in the institutionally arranged archive and dominant modes of representation.

• Details
• Contents