The Machine is Here

Black and white, 35mm
Russia, 2001, 15 min
Section: East of the West

Synopsis

A special vehicle takes care of removing waste from a certain old St Petersburg quarter. Every day the ever-smiling pensioner Peter notifies his neighbours of its arrival. The old man’s irrepressible optimism and eccentric philosophy fascinates the young intellectual Paul, but he doesn’t take very seriously Peter’s conviction that he’ll soon be moving. When one day the old man doesn’t show up, the concerned Paul seeks him out in his overcrowded communal flat. Peter is ill, but welcomes him into his shabby room with an ingenuous smile and impresses Paul once again by his equanimity, worthy of a stoic. Soon after, an official visits the communal flat and offers the motley company of tenants new places to live. The old man leaves with the few things he’s got to his name. In retrospect, the doubting Paul realises just how beneficial faith in God is to a person’s life and the conviction that we are part of His plan and essence.

About the director

Sergei Potemkin (b. 1978) has worked as a journalist for the television program House of Film in his home town of St Petersburg since 1997. At the same time he studied at the State University of Film and Television. In 1997-99 he gained experience in Poland under Krzysztof Zanussi. After the short video films Othello (1998) and King Lear (1999) he made the short The Machine Is Here (2001) based on Igor Hercev’s short story “Old Man” (“Starik”).