Abode of Dawn
2025 CPH:DOX
2025 Visions du Réel
Where do you go when the world feels overwhelming and just plain wrong? Can you escape and start anew? This documentary follows its protagonists for nearly a decade, as they try to build a utopian society in the Siberian Taiga. Some of them are followers of a religious community whose leader sees himself as the Son of God and calls himself Vissarion. Since the 1990s, his followers have been building a settlement, high up on a remote mountain, for the society of the future: The Abode of Dawn. The film focuses on the villages surrounding the Abode of Dawn. Fragments and scenes from the lives of the residents shape themselves into a mosaic. Take a step back and you recognize the iridescent image of this place in all its complexity. The film does not ask: Is Vissarion truly the Son of God? Instead, it poses the question: Are the people here happier than they were where they came from?
Directors
Kristina Shtubert
Kristina Shtubert comes from the Russian city of Orsk to the south-east of the Urals. She grew up in Moscow and graduated in Psychology from the Lomonosov State University (1998–2004) before choosing to follow a career in filmmaking. Having finished her studies with Aleksandr Proshkin, she spent several years working as a post-production editor. In2010, Kristina moved to Berlin to enroll into the German Film and Television Academy (DFFB). In 2020–2021, she joined the Feature Film Lab at the Moscow School of New Cinema. Her debut short, Elisa, toured over 40 international festivals, winning awards for cinematography and acting. She is also developing her feature debut, Lea (working title). Abode of Dawn is Kristina’s graduation project at the DFFB.