This film is not a simple documentary about the contents of the famous museum in Saint Petersburg. It uses the “Hermitage-niks”, the museum's employees, from attendant to director, who have worked there for years, to illustrate the art, rooms and history of what was once the Winter Palace. These colorful characters, inextricably linked to the Hermitage, bring the art, history and spirit of the museum to life. A real treasury of anecdotes about the Hermitage from the people who have seen it through the storms of 20th-century Russia.
This Dutch/Russian director has made five documentaries which have won international awards. She studied Russian literature at Amsterdam University and directing at the Dutch Film Academy. She began her career in 1997 with the much-acclaimed documentary The Lady with the White Hat, and since then has received multiple awards for her films, including the Jan Kassies award for the poetic touch in her films.
The Lady with the White Hat (1997), After the spring of ’68 (2001), The Hermitage Dwellers (2004), Voices of Bam (2006), Boris Ryzhy (2008), Water Children (2011)
