900 Dagen

For almost three years in World War II, Leningrad was besieged by the Germans. The three million inhabitants were in a rat trap. In the bitter winter cold, they ate glue, soles, cats and sometimes even their fellow human beings. However, the terrible hardships and nearly one million victims did not fit the state propaganda. The survivors were forced to keep still for decades, to avoid undermining the heroic myth of the ‘country of winners’. It turns out that still today the censors’ grip of fear is felt. In 900 Dagen, a series of ‘heroes’ unfold the unadorned story that marked their lives. Jessica Gorter’s second long documentary ensued from her debut Piter (about Leningrad) and the witness accounts of survivors for the play Quarantaine.