August 1991: the Soviet Union is on the verge of collapse. After a decade of glasnost, a group of high-ranking party figures places leader Mikhail Gorbachev under house arrest and declares a state of emergency. As the nation grinds to a halt, people pour onto the streets to protest. In three days, the seeds of a new country will emerge. In a companion piece to Maidan (Antenna 2014), Sergei Loznitsa lets us again watch history in the making and brings us The Event. Compiled entirely of archival footage shot on the streets of Leningrad, the film captures an impassioned people caught up in the fear, euphoria, and confusion of a profound political transformation.