Ostrov – Lost Island

On the desert island of Ostrov, lost out in the Caspian Sea, a handful of inhabitants live without roads, electricity or jobs, abandoned by the Russian state since the fall of the Soviet Union. Caviar fishing, once the heart of the island’s economy, is now illegal. To feed his family, Ivan regularly goes to sea and, although he has already been imprisoned twice by the authorities for poaching, he remains convinced that Putin will one day save him from misery. Like the majority of Ostrov’s inhabitants, he continues to follow the beliefs and traditions of a country to which he no longer really seems to belong. In this slightly dystopian atmosphere, Svetlana Rodina and Laurent Stoop weave the portrait of a family forced to imagine a future for itself amidst the ruins or to turn towards the outside world, towards Russia and its current events. A documentary with poignant images on an island full of mysteries and contradictions, which reflects the vast expanse of the Russian territory where the myth of a national identity and unity still seem to find a place.

Camille Kaiser