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In remote Eastern Siberia, the proposed construction of a technologically advanced airport city divides the region’s inhabitants. On one side, the local workers and Red Army veterans who support the march of progress and the glory such a project could bring to the Soviet state; on the other side, the fanatical Old Believers religious sect who are colluding with the Imperial Japanese Army – fresh off their invasion of Manchuria and scouting for new territory.

Ukrainian Soviet director Alexander Dovzhenko’s Aerograd (‘Air City’) is a fascinating blend of propaganda film and poetic Western. It contemplates notions of family, societal change and Soviet identity while presenting the promises of aerial advancement in futuristic – almost utopian – terms. Dovzhenko is characteristically enthralled with the natural setting, capturing the grandeur of the Siberian wilderness with stunning cinematography across the film’s absorbingly elliptical episodes.

Ages 15+