Opening today for a one-week run at NYC’s Film Forum: THE WOMAN WITH THE 5 ELEPHANTS
Vadim Jendreyko’s portrait has been on the festival circuit since its premiere in early 2009 at Visions du Réel, screening at notable events such as Locarno, the Viennale, DOK Leipzig, DocPoint, Rotterdam, Planete Doc Review, Hot Docs, Silverdocs, RIDM, and True/False, among many others. It now comes to US theatres via Cinema Guild.
The woman of the title is octogenarian Svetlana Geier, the formidable center of this wonderful observational documentary biography. Geier’s five elephants are metaphorical, not pachydermous, but no less weighty: Dostoyevsky’s greatest novels, all translated by Geier, considered the absolute best translator of Russian literature into the German language. The camera follows Geier in her daily life, preparing to work out a new translation with her colleague, who serves as both a sounding board and typist. Their interactions and dissection of language telegraph both a long-established professional relationship as well as a clear friendship, making them a pleasure to observe. Moving beyond the confines of her home, Jendreyko follows Geier to the Ukraine, the homeland she left during WWII, providing the impetus to explore her background and what influenced her fascination with language and translation.
what (not) to doc 