At the Bottom of the Sea
The Aral Sea used to be the fourth largest lake in the world. The lakeside town of Aralsk – a fishing port – started to grow there. The city flourished, but one day the Soviet planners decided to use the water of the only two rivers flowing into the sea
to allow the cultivation of the desert. They built a network of irrigation canals. As a result the sea level began to decrease almost immediately, the water level dropped dramatically and the shoreline receded from the town. The film will tell a story about the collective memory of the city and its people, whose lives have changed so much because of the absurd ideas of Soviet planners. The film will consist of three layers. The first and most important will be the memories of the protagonists. Selected people will tell us their individual most important memory related to the sea, specific, best-remembered episode. We will enter the world of the protagonists’ past, the world of their youth in a beautiful coastal city idealized by time. The memories will be arranged chronologically so that we have an impression of continuity in the history of Aralsk.
In the second layer each of the protagonists narrating their memories will be described through portraits and sequences showing the individual episodes of their lives. The storyline of the film – its development will be built through events
involving some of the characters. In the third layer the history of Aralsk will be introduced through Soviet newsreels.
The National Film Archive in Krasnogorsk retains a lot of footage of the Aral Sea ranging from typical propaganda films to footage showing what everyday life in Aralsk looked like when the sea was great and full of fish. In the film, these layers will be edited together, intertwined, so that we get the full picture of Aralsk from the protagonists‘memories, archives and images of Aralsk today.
to allow the cultivation of the desert. They built a network of irrigation canals. As a result the sea level began to decrease almost immediately, the water level dropped dramatically and the shoreline receded from the town. The film will tell a story about the collective memory of the city and its people, whose lives have changed so much because of the absurd ideas of Soviet planners. The film will consist of three layers. The first and most important will be the memories of the protagonists. Selected people will tell us their individual most important memory related to the sea, specific, best-remembered episode. We will enter the world of the protagonists’ past, the world of their youth in a beautiful coastal city idealized by time. The memories will be arranged chronologically so that we have an impression of continuity in the history of Aralsk.
In the second layer each of the protagonists narrating their memories will be described through portraits and sequences showing the individual episodes of their lives. The storyline of the film – its development will be built through events
involving some of the characters. In the third layer the history of Aralsk will be introduced through Soviet newsreels.
The National Film Archive in Krasnogorsk retains a lot of footage of the Aral Sea ranging from typical propaganda films to footage showing what everyday life in Aralsk looked like when the sea was great and full of fish. In the film, these layers will be edited together, intertwined, so that we get the full picture of Aralsk from the protagonists‘memories, archives and images of Aralsk today.