Mikhail Gorbachev wins the special Eastern Star Award
Meeting Gorbachev, the new film by Werner Herzog and André Singer, will be presented at the 30th edition of the Trieste Film Festival from the 18-25 of January 2019.
From nuclear disarmament to the unification of Germany, the documentary offers an uncensored take on some of the most important historical events of the end of the 20th century, whilst simultaneously addressing the current rise of populism throughout Europe (and the rest of the World).
Herzog and Gorbachev met on three separate occasions over the course of 6 months, and whilst the former leader of the Soviet Union is battling various medical conditions, his mind is clear: “his warmth and humour alongside Herzog’s ability to uncover unusual aspects of his life, render these encounters intriguing and moving.”
The co-director and producer André Singer (Night will Fall) will accompany the film to Trieste, shortly before Gorbachev’s acceptance of the special Eastern Star Award in Moscow: “the 30th edition of our festival” – explain festival directors Nicoletta Romeo and Fabrizio Grosoli – “will coincide with the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, and we can’t imagine a more appropriate way to acknowledge this event, than with the man who represented a ‘bridge’ between Western and Eastern Europe.”
“Meeting Gorbachev” – the directors elaborate – “represents an extraordinary encounter between a master of cinema by the likes of Werner Herzog, and one of the key historical figures of the 20th century, the man of Glasnost’ and Perestrojka. A film in which the last leader of the Soviet Union recounts previously unexplored aspects of ‘his’ story with clarity (including international conflict appeasement and nuclear disarmament), that is also a cinematic experience and one of Herzog’s most commendable works, thanks to the careful selection of archival materials.”