Victory Day (Den’ Pobedy) bySergei LoznitsaĮx-KGB agent Vladimir Putin once said, “The collapse of the Soviet Union was the greatest geopolitical tragedy of the 20th century.” This Soviet nostalgia is clearly visible in Treptower Park as well–people arrive bearing the red Soviet flags. People from many places across the ex-Soviet Union have come here to celebrate victory 72 years after the bloody fighting. Berlin, where the last great battle of World War II took place, represents the end of the war. Nowadays huge crowds gather to celebrate all over the former Soviet countries and other places with a large Russian-speaking diaspora. But after Vladimir Putin became the president of Russia, the government started promoting this holiday to cultivate national pride. In the 90s the Victory Day on the 9th of May was celebrated more silently. In Austerlitz, Nazi concentration camps are consumed by tourists, whereas Victory Day demonstrates how the celebration in Treptower Park becomes a tool in the hands of the Russian government to promote its official narrative about World War II in order to raise patriotism. Like in his previous documentary Austerlitz (2016), the acclaimed Ukrainian director Sergei Loznitsa questions the use of historic places. Victory Day (Den’ Pobedy) is a precise observation of the pro-Russian gathering at the Soviet War Memorial in Berlin on the 9th of May.

Distributor: Country: Germany, 2018 94 minutes

Russia victory day parades are stupid