Pribalts was Norman’s first attempt in the field of experimental documentary filmmaking, and maybe because of this, several stories that, under ordinary circumstances, would seem to require separate documentaries are accommodated herein – one is the story of her classmate as a fresh Muscovite and an actor, which offers several parallel versions for the identity choices of one generation of Baltic-Russians. Of the detours she makes, the most interesting is the story of the train accident in the subway, which Norman captures on film and which a Russian TV channel wanted to buy from her. The film’s narrative unfolds as she browses through the class photo album with her former teacher and recalls what her classmates were like who they have become. The main narrative is in the form of a video diary of an artist visiting Moscow for the time, with all the possible colorful adventures that could be considered “the distinctiveness of Russian life” and, of course, the typical Russian-style late night conversations, in which the world is energetically set to rights.

 

Synopsis of Pribalts written by Hanno Soans for the catalog of the Köler Prize 2013

 

The film was first exhibited at Modern Art Oxford in the frame of exhibition series Arrivals. Art From the New Europe, 2006.