DESCRIPTION
Magnitogorsk is an industrial town, in the heart of Russia that depends on its gigantic steel plant: The Kombinat. Lena, a young mother, daughter and grand-daughter of steel workers, teaches dancing lessons, one of the many activities organized by the factory. Amongst her students, there’s Sasha who found in his salsa dance classes, a mean to escape from his daily pressure at the Kombinat. Sasha’s brother and his wife are planning to leave Magnitogorsk and its permanent pollution that is the cause of their daughter’s mental handicap.
Different journeys that explore today’s Russia, in the shadow of the rusty smokestacks.
GALLERY
REVIEWS
“Images at once grandiose and terrifying””
– Phuong Le, The Guardian, 24.1.2022
“Kombinat celebrates the resilience of people and the basic goodness they possess. It is also an avowed aubade to the steel industry – its rawness, greatness and allure.”
– Nicole Sante, Business Doc Europe
“Tejedor once again winds his way into the interstices of Russia, seemingly familiar with many of its secrets.”
– Muriel Del Don, Cineuroa, 30.04.2020
“Visually arresting, formally thorough and ethically impeccable .”
– Marko Stojiljković , Ubiquarian, 06.05.2020
“Kombinat is a beautiful observational documentary which captures a community still stuck somewhere between past and present.”
– Rob Aldam, Back Seat Mafia, 2.03.2021
“Tejedor’s film delivers more, moving beyond our undoubted fascination with all this industrial hardscape and devastation”
– Ezra Haben Glenn, The Arts Fuse, 2.03.2021