Mud

Take a look at the traditional Russian bathhouse culture of pumping mud and tiled corridors. With the help of spectacular black and white images, it feels like you are traveling back in time. Ilya Povolotsky's Mud is a stunningly beautiful documentary in the style of the best Soviet cinema. Despite this reference, the entire film is set in the context of the very current and horrific war with Ukraine, which feels uncomfortably close in all scenes and with the help of radio fragments. The daily routine continues stubbornly. With the sound of the pushing mud in their ears, the patients are once again queuing up to see the head nurse.