Garage People

Northern Russia is more than just ice fishing, babushka dolls and vodka. In a run-down industrial town, far beyond the Arctic Circle, we find the garage collective – endless rows of seemingly uninhabitable sheds, where the locals seek refuge from their bleak everyday lives in their private barracks. Here, you will find everything from fitness trainers and carpenters to war enthusiasts and heavy metal bands. We even meet an old mine worker, who has spent a lifetime trying to excavate basements under the rows of sheds. For all of them, the garage is a haven where there is space to be oneself. And where they can escape from life in a post-Soviet society that does not give them much hope for the future. Natalija Yefemkina's directing debut is a loving ode to the Russian soul, which is still flourishing behind the rusty garage doors. Through subtle and tragic portraits, the audience is invited inside the garage collective's closed chambers, which are just as wonderfully eccentric as the owners themselves.