Away From All Suns

In the back alleys of Moscow, forgotten treasures lurk: Utopian buildings, built in the 1920s in the spirit of Russian constructivism. Ruins of another future, reflecting the hopes and aberrations of modernity. Aren’t the buildings calling out to us? The film follows three Muscovites who are struggling with the buildings’ heritage. One citizen fights for the preservation of her own house and the old printing factory next door — the only preserved building by El Lissitzky. Donatas wants to live with his friends in a artist community.

Vsevolod wants to preserve an architectural monument yet has to rebuild it. “Everyone who has been inside this house, is infected”, says Vsevolod. What do these buildings hold for us? What will be wiped out, once the last ones fall prey to decay or into the hands of real estate-investors? The filmmaker works with passages of manifestos by Rodchenko, El Lissitzky and Vesnin, as well as rare documentary footage from early Soviet film, among others by Dziga Vertov. A journey through time to the revolutionary 1920s and a portrait of Russian society today.