Königsberg is Dead

Koenigsberg is dead. Long live Kaliningrad! The city of Kaliningrad in the Russian exclave between Poland and Lithuania was born out of the ruins of the German city Koenigsberg that was nearly completely destroyed in WWII. On the 750th anniversary of the disputed K-city in June 2005, the Russians don’t want to know anything about Koenigsberg whereas the old Prussians can’t bring themselves to say Kaliningrad. In this experimental and provocative film, the filmmaking duo Max & Gilbert explores the historical myths and projections of Germans and Russians who are tied to this place on the edge of Europe. They track historical events from the deconstruction of the city after WWII and the expulsion of the German inhabitants to the Soviet existence on the verge of decline with the help of contemporary witnesses; masses of archive footage; animations and film clips like Sergej Eisenstein’s Alexander Nevsky; scientists from both Germany and Kaliningrad … The trauma and revisionism of the so-called German exiles and their longing for home collides with the cynicism and desires of young Russians. (DOK.fest München)