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My Perestroika follows five ordinary Russians living in extraordinary times — from their sheltered Soviet childhood, to the collapse of the Soviet Union during their teenage years, to the constantly shifting political landscape of post-Soviet Russia. Rather than relying on historians or a narrator to interpret or explain events, this documentary relies on its subjects to tell their own stories. Contemporary interviews, along with footage rarely seen outside of Russia — including home movies from the USSR in the 1970s — paint a complex picture of the dreams and disillusionment of current Muscovites who were raised behind the Iron Curtain.
As an outreach tool, the film provides viewers with an opportunity to go beyond sound-bite news coverage or political propaganda to look at what happens to ordinary people when their society is turned upside down. Through the journeys of these former schoolmates — each of whom takes a very different path — we are invited to examine both their experiences and our own expectations about the benefits and limitations of free markets and democracy.
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