Free Fall

Im freien Fall

Free Fall

Susanne Schüle, Elena Levina

DE
2017
Documentary
89’
Panorama

Brother and sister Boris and Marina Urmatov live in the beautiful but remote Altai mountain region of Siberia. They come from a family of shepherds whose farm was considered an exemplary operation in Soviet Russia. But state structures from that time fell apart long ago, unemployment is on the rise and alcoholism is rife. Marina tries to keep her family afloat by running a small bakery. Boris tends to the last of the cows. Life is arduous.
One night in 2008, Boris is suddenly awoken by a loud bang. A piece of metal weighing almost one hundred kilo has fallen from the sky right next to his hut. The family lives in a drop zone for spent rocket stages from the space agency Roskosmos, which are supposed to land only in uninhabited regions. Boris and Marina demand compensation – not only for the destruction that has been caused but also for the radioactivity given off by the scrap metal. Their story becomes a minor press sensation.
The film team visits the brother and sister, initially to document their efforts to force Roskosmos into action. But the spectacular incident is soon eclipsed by the family’s everyday trials and tribulations, their struggle to survive, lack of prospects, alcoholism and violence. Over a period of years, Free Fall has documented the tragedy of a neglected mountain region whose reality is thrown out of kilter by distant world politics.

In cooperation with: Oikocredit 

Director

Susanne Schüle, Elena Levina

Script

Susanne Schüle, Aldo Gugolz

Cinematography

Susanne Schüle

Editing

Franziska von Berlepsch

Sound

Helge Haack, Elena Levina

Production

Produktion Susanne Schüle, RBB

Contact

Susanne Schüle

Susanne Schüle

Susanne Schüle was born in 1967. She studied cinematography at HFF Konrad Wolf in Babelsberg. Since 1996, she has worked as a freelance cinematographer, mainly for feature-length documentary films. She has worked closely with directors such as Stanislaw Mucha, Gerd Kroske, Andrei Schwartz and Aldo Gugolz. She made her directorial debut in 2017 with the documentary film Im freien Fall, in collaboration with Elena Levina. In 2023, Susanne Schüle received the German Camera Award for the film Europa Passage. Since 2016, she has been a professor on the Cinematography degree programme for non-fictional genres at the Film University Babelsberg Konrad Wolf.


Filme von Susanne Schüle (Bildgestaltung, Auswahl)
MundArt 2023 | Liebe Angst 2022 | Europa Passage 2022 | Kühe auf dem Dach 2020 | Fatima, ein kurzes Leben 2020 | Der sechste Kontinent 2018 | SPK Komplex 2017 | Rue de Blamage 2017 | Himmelverbot 2014 | Halbmondwahrheiten 2013 | Roland Klick – The heart is a hungry hunter 2011 | Absolut Warhola 2001 | Negativ Nächte 1996

Elena Levina

Elena Levina studied journalism at Moscow State University. She then worked as a journalist in Germany for radio and television editorial departments and as assistant director and co-author of documentary films. She initiates German-Russian cultural projects and works in Berlin as a translator. Free Fall is the first full-length documentary she has directed.