Turksib is a 1928 black-and-white documentary. Directed by Victor Turin with a stunning sense of rhythm, it depicts the incredibly harsh conditions of Turkestan and Sibera, and the race to build a train-line between the two that will alleviate their difficulties. It's a very Soviet celebration of the triumph of man and machine over nature. Turksib became world-famous and highly influential, and almost a century later remains a captivating visual experience.
As a special treat, this showing of Turksib (and the following showings in the WOW Festival around Wales) had live musical accompaniment, composed and performed by Bronnt Idustries Kapital. The ethereal music compliments the images so perfectly that it's impossible to imagine the film without it. Altogether a truly hypnotising experience.
WOW stands for Wales One World, a festival which brings the very best cinema from around the world to cinemas across Wales. Now in its 11th year, the festival, directed by David Gillam, is searching increasingly wide for films, introducing works from Lebanon, Mongolia and Africa alongside films from Europe, Latin America and Japan which are now more common in UK cinemas than when the festival began. WOW runs from 22-25 March at Chapter Arts Centre in Cardiff, and continues across Wales until 11 April. The full programme is available at http://www.wowfilmfestival.com/2012-programme/ If you can't make it to the festival, I'll be watching as many as I can and reviewing them here.
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