Town of Glory

With few exceptions, citizens of the small West Russian town of Yelnya raise their children to become good patriots. Only few of them seem to feel uncomfortable with the eerie, all-encompassing militarization of society that has suffused the atmosphere since at least 2014, the year of the Russian annexation of Crimea. A heroic Soviet past and a destitute post-industrial present make this provincial town susceptible for the Kremlin's aggressive anti-Western propaganda leading to the militarization of society from kindergarten to pension age. Filmed over the course of three years, this film introduces Western viewers to the small and prototypical provincial Russian town of Yelnya where people admire Vladimir Putin for making Russia great again. Yelnya has remained economically marginalized ever since the Soviet Union collapsed. But people have regained pride. They believe that president Putin is bringing back glory and power to the Russian nation. Not many object to the constant propaganda claims that fascism is threatening once again from the US and Europe, and that Russia must stand ready to defend itself. TOWN OF GLORY depicts the impact of war propaganda and the increasing militarization of youth in Russia in the era after Vladimir Putin's 3rd term in office, starting in 2012. Filmmaker Dmitry Bogolyubov has known Yelnya for almost all his life because it was the home of his grandmother. Yelnya is situated 400 kilometers west of Moscow in the Smolensk region and 500 km north of Russia's border with Ukraine. It served as a gathering point for Russian military equipment which was likely sent on into Ukraine for Russia's fullscale invasion starting on 23 February, 2023, making the film even more poignant in the present day. HISTORIC BACKGROUND In 1941, Yelnya was the scene of heavy fighting between the Soviet Army and the German Wehrmacht. In just a few weeks in August and September, 1941, more than 40 000 people lost their lives in what is known as the Yelnya offensive. As the first sizeable setback of Hitler's troops during their "Barbarossa" operation against the Soviet Union, it was of great symbolic significance for the Soviet Army. Because of this history, Yelnya has always been a focal point of Russian commemoration of the Great Patriotic War aka World War II. During more than four years of filming, the "Town of Glory" permanently recalls this victory. It serves an important basis for the cohesion of contemporary Russian society, but is also abused as an excuse for militarization in the present day. The film is a portrait of the collective memory of an entire city and a reflection of contemporary Russia. The film follows various protagonists in the seemingly ubiquitous militarism of Yelnya: sixteen-year-old Masha, a lonely girl and star of regional casting shows for singing army songs; Svetlana, her patriotic, arrogant, and heavy-handed mother; and Sergey, who makes war visible by digging up both soldiers' bones and their weapons in fields and forests around Yelnya, trying to identify emotionally with the people who fought here more than 70 years ago. Describing his motivation for making the film, Bogulyubov says, "With the rise of totalitarian mindsets among people in Russia and against the backdrop of deteriorating relations between Russia and the West, we want to send the message that ordinary people are first and foremost victims of war propaganda. This only leads to military conflicts, suffering and death - regardless of countries and nationalities."