Commissar (dir. Askoldov, 1967)

An outstanding work of Soviet cinematography, Aleksandr Askoldov's 1967 feature Commissar is notable for its artistic qualities as much as for its troubled history. Shot on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the October Revolution, and featuring some of the brightest stars of Soviet cinema, the film was immediately suppressed and shelved by the KGB for two decades while its director was expelled from the Party, exiled from Moscow, and banned from working on feature films for life. First released under Gorbachov, Commissar won the Silver Bear - Special Jury Prize at the 38th Berlin International Film Festival in 1988.

Set in Ukraine during the Civil War that followed the October Revolution, Commissar tells the story of Klavdia Vavilova, a female commander of the Red Army, who finds herself pregnant. Forced to request a leave from military service, Vavilova takes shelter in the home of a poor, three-generation Jewish family. Thinking across multiple divides (sexual, political, ethnic, religious), the film is a poetic rumination on human life and the paradoxes of revolutionary politics. 

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For more information, e-mail [email protected].

Time: 7:30 pm – 10:00 pm CET/GMT+1

Location: BCB Lecture Hall (Platanenstraße 98a)

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