The Settlement is a critically-acclaimed, visually arresting documentary about a strange community in the Russian countryside, from renowned documentary filmmaker Sergei Loznitsa.

A master of detailed, minimalist observation, Loznitsa introduces us to a rural settlement where the residents are seemingly involved in everyday farm work - harvesting fields, chopping wood, working at a sawmill, maintaining the property. Yet as we watch the workers, we notice strange inconsistencies in their routines - the wood never appears to be cut, the grain never harvested - and it soon becomes apparent that what we are witnessing is neither a farm nor some sort of labor commune. Gradually, we come to understand the workers, are in fact, patients. Their daily chores, though earnestly performed, serve only therapeutic purposes.

Suffused with the sounds and rhythm of rural life, The Settlement is an exceptional and enigmatic film. A parable of post-Soviet society? A testament to the importance of nature in our modern lives? With a haunting coda that perhaps hints at an answer, The Settlement is a film that forces us to consider the world in which we live.

Directed by Sergei Loznitsa
2001 (US, 2006), 79 minutes
Purchase: $295 Rental: $85

* Winner, Best Documentary, Manchester Film Festival, 2002
* Winner, Best Documentary, Les Ecrans Documentaires Film Festival, 2002
* Winner, Best Documentary, Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, 2001
* Winner, Silver Dove, Leipzig International Festival for Documentary Film, 2001
* Winner, Message to Man Film Festival, St. Petersburg, 2001
* Winner, Jury Prize, Mediawave International Film Festival, 2001
* Winner, Grand Prize, Vyborg Film Festival, 2001

"Perception is the key to Sergei Loznitsa’s film-essay, which gradually envelopes the viewer..."
– Eddie Cockrell, Variety

“…meticulously filmed and edited sequences…” - Slavic Review

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