TRW Glimpse of Happiness ENPRO

Genre: Thematic Short Film
Format: PAL/SECAM, DV-Cam, DV-AVI
Runtime: 3:29 min
Languages: RU (orig.), EN
Series: "Eye Witnesses"

Topic: The happiness of love is familiar to everyone, and Soviet people – like everyone else – loved, were jealous, desired, and were happy. One was supposed to love the government, however, more than those close to him, and for that reason one had to be vigilant. What if your beloved is a spy, or an “internal emigrant” or an enemy of the people, and you didn’t detect it?

Plot: Little joys of a distant childhood, like jumping into the snow or riding the swing, are the initial remarks of this short film. But also the idealistic oriented first experiences in the military, having the possibility to being part of the soviet war efforts, meeting a close relative in the circumstances of repression in the lagers, receiving a parcel with candies, the happiness to escape the forced labor through a serious illness, all these are moments which our witnesses remember as little glimpses of happiness.

The Series: Memories, if not captured on film, become more and more blurred over the years. That's why we took advantage of the occasion to interview those who really experienced the horrors of the Soviet regime either on their own skin or through experiences made by their relatives. About 50 hours of material of these "Children of the Gulag" are available in our archive for further development, and just a very small part is presented in this series. We deliberately abstained from any comment on what is said by the witnesses in order to let the spectator decide. These short films may be useful as support material in talk-shows or educational programs. Other themes may be developed in future.

Other short films of the series:

• Born in Prison
• Citizens and Spies
• Faith in the Camp
• Feast Days
• Human Relations
• Life in the Camps
• Persecuted Church
• Soviet Childhood
• Soviet Life
• The Man and the System
• Unjust Justice