The Soviet Story: A must see documentary
In May, 2008, The Soviet Story premiered in the European Parliament where it now has been screened several times. Since then The Soviet Story has been screened on national television in 10 countries and has won several prestigious awards at film festivals.
It has been seen by audiences in Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania, Israel, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Ukraine. Screenings are pending for Australia, Asia, Greece, Italy, and Poland. In the United States, public broadcasting stations began screening the film in October 2009 and to date the film has been screened by 13 television stations, many of which are members of the PBS network. And, last Friday clips of an interview with the writer/director, Edvins Snore, and numerous clips from the film were included and highlighted in an hour-long national special on the Fox Cable Network’s Glenn Beck show.
There is so much to say about The Soviet Story and why it is worthy of your attention and should be shown to audiences everywhere. So much of 20th Century history has been forgotten, ignored and has or is being rewritten. It is important to see things seldom talked about and see how events tie together that are seldom, if ever, tied together - - events that have significant relevance to the current world situation.
The documentary illustrates the close philosophical and political similarities and collaboration between the Nazi and Soviet systems in the years leading up to and during WWII, (as the war began and started to spread, the Axis Powers included the Soviet Union), the crimes of the Soviet Union, as well as, the impact of the Soviet legacy on modern day Europe. The film shows recently uncovered archive documents revealing how the Soviet Union helped Nazi Germany instigate the Holocaust.
Through interviews with western and Russian historians, members of the European Parliament and victims of Soviet terror, the film goes into shocking detail and uncovers new information about the following events: the Great Purge, the Great Famine, Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, Katyn massacre, Gestapo-NKVD collaboration, Soviet mass deportations and medical experiments in the GULAG. Edvins Snore’s research is thorough, his presentation precise and documented. So, though official Russia has tried to discredit the film, the Kremlin has no genuine facts to counter The Soviet Story. The reality remains that Russia needs to come to terms with its past. Not doing so retards its governance, diminishes its people and makes honest and open relations with its neighbors a very slippery slope.
A Latvian native Snore, 35, is both the author of The Soviet Story script and the director of the film. The Soviet Story is his debut feature documentary. As a Master of Political Science, Edvins Snore studied the subject and collected materials for the film over 10 years and then spent over two years filming in Russia, Ukraine, Latvia, Germany, France, the United Kingdom and Belgium.
Everyone should see The Soviet Story. No serious student of history or public official facing the complex dimensions of current international affairs can afford not to do so.
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