Two Prosecutors (Sergei Loznitsa, France/Germany/Netherlands/Latvia/Romania/Lithuania, 2025), Yerevan Premiere, 20-7 15:30 House of Cinema Grand Hall
In recent years, Sergei Loznitsa has primarily worked in the realm of non-fiction cinema, creating large-scale historical studies based on archival materials or observational documentaries distinguished by their directorial detachment. This year, the director returns with Two Prosecutors, his first fiction feature since Donbass (2018). The film’s plot is based on the novel of the same name by writer and physicist Georgy Demidov — a man who spent around 14 years imprisoned on charges of being a kulak and was persecuted until his death.
Set in Bryansk during the height of Stalin’s repressions, the film follows young prosecutor Kornev. Upon learning of the torture inflicted on political prisoners during interrogations, as well as the inhumane conditions of their detention in general, Kornev begins to suspect that these abuses might be part of a conspiracy aimed at discrediting the Communist regime itself. Determined to expose the injustices, he sets out for Moscow to report directly to the country’s leadership. Thus, the film transforms into a portrait of one man’s struggle both against and paradoxically for the very system he serves.
The atmosphere of hopelessness is reinforced by the settings where most of the film’s scenes unfold — nearly always indoors, within offices, corridors, and stairwells — emphasizing the feeling of imprisonment and the oppressive monotony of bureaucracy. The camerawork serves the same purpose: fixed in place, it patiently observes the long, drawn-out scenes from which there is no escape.
Two Prosecutors is a Kafkaesque drama that borders on ascetic minimalism, uncovering the duality of ideologies and ideals — a phenomenon that was characteristic not only of the Soviet Union, but also of present-day global powers.
Sona Karapoghosyan
In recent years, Sergei Loznitsa has primarily worked in the realm of non-fiction cinema, creating large-scale historical studies based on archival materials or observational documentaries distinguished by their directorial detachment. This year, the director returns with Two Prosecutors, his first fiction feature since Donbass (2018). The film’s plot is based on the novel of the same name by writer and physicist Georgy Demidov — a man who spent around 14 years imprisoned on charges of being a kulak and was persecuted until his death.
Set in Bryansk during the height of Stalin’s repressions, the film follows young prosecutor Kornev. Upon learning of the torture inflicted on political prisoners during interrogations, as well as the inhumane conditions of their detention in general, Kornev begins to suspect that these abuses might be part of a conspiracy aimed at discrediting the Communist regime itself. Determined to expose the injustices, he sets out for Moscow to report directly to the country’s leadership. Thus, the film transforms into a portrait of one man’s struggle both against and paradoxically for the very system he serves.
The atmosphere of hopelessness is reinforced by the settings where most of the film’s scenes unfold — nearly always indoors, within offices, corridors, and stairwells — emphasizing the feeling of imprisonment and the oppressive monotony of bureaucracy. The camerawork serves the same purpose: fixed in place, it patiently observes the long, drawn-out scenes from which there is no escape.
Two Prosecutors is a Kafkaesque drama that borders on ascetic minimalism, uncovering the duality of ideologies and ideals — a phenomenon that was characteristic not only of the Soviet Union, but also of present-day global powers.
Sona Karapoghosyan