Please join the Russia and Eurasia Program at The Fletcher School and the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University for two evening film screenings and conversations about Russia in the 1990s. We will watch The Unfinished Time (2024) and engage with producer Abigail Honor and director Yan Vizenberg. We encourage you to view the film trailer here. 

The 10-episode documentary series The Unfinished Time: Russia in the 90s chronicles the defining milestones of Yeltsin’s era through unprecedented access to the people who shaped it. Interviewees include Yeltsin’s family members, government ministers, siloviki, oligarchs, and political party leaders from across the spectrum, such as Anatoly Chubais, Vladimir Gusinsky, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Boris Nemtsov, Vladimir Putin, Grigory Yavlinsky, and Tatiana and Valentin Yumashev, as well as world leaders like former President Bill Clinton, Tony Blair, Alexander Lukashenko, and Nursultan Nazarbayev. Nearly two hundred people were interviewed for this project, with the documentary unfolding exclusively through their voices. By bringing together diverse perspectives on pivotal events, the series offers an authentic and richly textured portrait of an extraordinary era, further enriched with archival footage, much of it previously inaccessible.

Part V, “The Standoff,” will be screened and discussed at Harvard University. The episode focuses on the implications of Boris Yeltsin’s economic reforms and the events leading up to the 1993 constitutional crisis in Russia.

Date: Monday, December 2, 2024
Time: 6:00 PM – 8:30 PM ET 
Location: CGIS South Building, S010, Tsai Auditorium
Address: 1730 Cambridge Street, Cambridge, MA 02138

The Cambridge campus is easily accessed on the T Red Line. However, if you plan to drive to the event, metered parking is available on Fulton, Broadway, and Cambridge Streets. 

Both events are open to the public. On both evenings, after we screen the episode, we will speak with the filmmakers and answer questions from the audience. The film will be screened mainly in Russian with English subtitles. The conversation will be moderated by Arik Burakovsky, Assistant Director of the Fletcher Russia and Eurasia Program.

Please make sure to register via the Google Form here to attend either or both of the events in person. If you would like to submit discussion questions for the filmmakers in advance, please do not hesitate to contact us.

	Yan Vizinberg is a New York City-based filmmaker and creator of immersive experiences. He recently wrote and directed The Unfinished Time, a ten-part documentary series exploring Russia’s pivotal transition between the fall of the Soviet Union and Putin’s rise to power. Yan’s directorial debut, Cargo (2011), which addresses the issue of human trafficking, received critical acclaim; The Hollywood Reporter noted, "The film resonates with thoughtful humanity… and offers a taut storyline and complex characterizations." Yan’s recent producing credits include Kristen Stewart’s upcoming directorial debut, The Chronology of Water, and Kirill Serebrennikov’s Disappearance, adapted from Olivier Guez’s best-selling novel, The Disappearance of Josef Mengele. Yan has also directed and created over a hundred media installations and environments for renowned museums and cultural institutions worldwide, including the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum; The Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center; and the Boris Yeltsin Presidential Library. Born in Moscow, Yan studied at the Technion—Israel Institute of Technology and at Boston University’s Department of Film and Television.
	Abigail Honor is a filmmaker and producer who works in both feature films and documentaries. Her recent producing credits include Kristen Stewart’s directorial debut, The Chronology of Water, based on Lydia Yuknavitch’s novel and starring Imogen Poots; Kirill Serebrennikov’s Disappearance, which explores the harrowing journey of Josef Mengele, the notorious "Angel of Death" of Auschwitz; and Yan Vizinberg’s ten-part documentary series, The Unfinished Time, which examines Russia’s transitional period between the fall of the USSR and Putin’s rise to power. Her 2004 documentary, Saints and Sinners, explores the social, political, and religious dimensions of same-sex marriage in America and received critical acclaim, screening at over a dozen festivals. Originally from Beverley, England, Abigail Honor holds a Master of Fine Arts in Film Production from Boston University and a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with a concentration in Fine Art from the University of Newcastle.
	Arik Burakovsky is Assistant Director of the Russia and Eurasia Program at The Fletcher School, which he helped establish in 2018. His research interests include Russian foreign policy and political economy, soft power, public diplomacy, and international relations forecasting. Before completing his M.A. in Law and Diplomacy at The Fletcher School, Arik interned in the Public Affairs Section at the U.S. Embassy Moscow and studied the Polish language and culture as a Boren Fellow at the University of Warsaw in Poland. He also served as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant in Omsk, Russia and twice as Resident Director of the ROTC Project GO intensive summer Russian language program in Narva, Estonia. His work has been published by The Conversation, TIME, The National Interest, the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, and elsewhere. Arik received his B.A. in Political Science and International Relations from the University of California, San Diego.