Evgueni Khaldei

Year of production: 1997

 
    "Photographer under Stalin"

Born in 1917 Evegueni Khaldei was left to grow up
as an orphan, following a pogrom against the Jews
when his parents were murdered and he was
injured. Assembling his first camera at age 12,
this fascinating eyewitness to history taught
himself the art of photography and went on to
become the greatest photographer of the Soviet
era.

The Soviet photo journalist shot some of the most
famous pictures of the Second World War,
including the photo of the Red Army take-over of
the Berlin Reichstag - which symbolizes the end of
WWII - and was present during the Potsdam
Conference and the Nuernberg trials and took the
most important portraits of Stalin. Although he
later became a victim of Stalinist anti-Semitism,
and was fired from TASS in 1948 because of his
Jewish roots, he never lost his trust in Socialism.

After Stalin's death he worked for Pravda from
1953 to 1972, after which he was again fired for
being Jewish. Still he caught every important
president, artist and every important happening
of the USSR on film. His work, admired and
acclaimed worldwide, is a treat, a chapter in the
history of humanity.

In this film, Evgueni Khaldei invites us into his
house and tells us the story of the past 60 years,
in which he worked as a photographer for his
society and his regime and for the first time
shows his entire collection of images to the
public.
 Director:
Marc-Henri Wajnberg

Screenlay:
Marc-Henri Wajnberg

Music:
Conservatoire
Soviétique d´Odessa

Camera:
Rémon Fromont