The Building

Year
2019
Country
Germany, Ukraine
Duration
93’
Directors
Tatjana Kononenko, Matilda Mester

In the east of Ukraine lies Derzhprom, the House of State Industry. Built between 1925 and 1928, it was intended to embody the idea of Communism. Although it was a poster child for the avant-garde movement, now it seems almost forgotten. Derzhprom acts as a kind of time machine. Space becomes time here. The Building moves between classic, observational documentary and experimental cinema. With very little dialogue, it is rather a poem of moving images. Through the use of mixed materials, including archive films from the 1920s, it reflects on how past and present, movement and time are related to the static nature of architecture.

CREW:
Director: Tatjana Kononenko, Matilda Mester
Producer: Tatjana Kononenko, Svitlana Zinovyeva
Cinematographer: Matilda Mester, Bruno Derksen
Editor: Tatjana Kononenko, Matilda Mester
Sound: Tobias Bilz
Production
German Film and Television Academy (dffb), InspirationFilms
Sales:
German Film and Television Academy, Petra Palmer, [email protected]
Director
Tatjana Kononenko

Tatjana Kononenko, born 1980 in Kirovograd, Ukraine, lives and works between Berlin and Tbilisi. She studied Media and Communication in Berlin and Film Directing at the German Film and Television Academy (dffb). She has been working with video and photography on projects often dealing with the issues of memory and history. Her first documentary, Keep Out, premiered at the 13th Jihlava International Documentary Film Festival in 2009. The Building is her graduation film from the German Film and Television Academy and her feature-length debut.

Selected Filmography

Keep Out (2009), Medea Will We Be Free?”, She Asked Suddenly (2013), The Building (2019)

Director
Matilda Mester

Matilda Mester is a director and cinematographer who graduated from the German Film and Television Academy (dffb). She currently lives in Copenhagen and works in the field of art film, experimental and documentary film. Her work as a cinematographer has been shown at several international festivals and art exhibitions. The Building is her first feature film as a director.

Selected Filmography

The Building (2019), Nakskov 1:20 (2020)

DOCUSPACE ONLINE CINEMA
DOCUSPACE ONLINE CINEMA
Wednesday
29 April 2020
18:00
22 INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL
 6 — 13 
June 2025
Roses. Film-Cabaret
DOCU/UKRAINE
Roses. Film-Cabaret
Year
2021
Country
Ukraine
Director
Irena Stetsenko
Duration
77’
DOCU/UKRAINE
Salt from Bonneville
DOCU/UKRAINE
Salt from Bonneville
Year
2020
Country
Ukraine, Poland, Georgia
Director
Simon Mozgovyi
Duration
74’
DOCU/UKRAINE
Tales of a Toy Horse
DOCU/UKRAINE
Tales of a Toy Horse
Year
2021
Country
Ukraine, Estonia
Directors
Ulyana Osovska, Denis Strashny
Duration
75’
DOCU/UKRAINE