My Perestroika: A Social History of Sweeping Change

Like many other Russia followers, I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s airing of the documentary My Perestroika on PBS (thank you, Slingbox). The film, directed by Robin Hessman, examines the personal experiences of five different forty-year-old Russian people growing up under the bright patriotism and purpose-driven youth culture of the Brezhnev years, through the collapse of communism, and the difficult transition to modern Russia. Much like the beloved “Up” documentary series, these kinds of longitudinal social studies of just a few individual experiences can often tell us more about the realities of these sweeping changes than any pundit or analyst can. Below is the clip, check out POV’s website here.

Watch the full episode. See more POV.