The Outskirts

A group of Russian farmers discover that their land has been sold for oil excavation without their knowledge and embark on a violent rampage. This grim, phantasmagoric portrayal of both recent and not-so-recent Russian history shares its title with Boris Barnet's inaugural sound film Okraina, though it stands as its antithesis. First-time director Pyotr Lutsik and his co-writer Alexey Samoryadov, two cult Russian screenwriters from the 1990s, conduct a dialogue with their cinematic ancestors, turning the aesthetics of socialist realism inside out. The film's ambivalence towards revanchist forces in post-Soviet Russia, as masterfully depicted by Lutsik on the screen, stirred significant controversy upon The Outskirts’ release. Over time, however, it became evident that Lutsik-Samoryadov’s work clashed the fantasies of both sides – the common people who sought justice and the horror they themselves instilled in democratic elites. Two decades later, Russian film critics and experts have come to recognise Outskirts as the most important film of the post-Soviet era.