Central Eurasia Research Group - Film Screening: Afonya (1975)
Afonya by Georgii Danelia is one of the most popular Soviet comedies and USSR’s absolute box office hit in 1975. The film stands out as a rather ambivalent portrayal of Soviet society, its everyday life, its opportunities and pressures. Afanasii Borshev aka Afonya, is a plumber, a social drinker, reveller, and moonlighter, taking advantage of Soviet welfare state, yet struggling to conform with Soviet expectations of “normal life.” Afonya is one of the most beloved Soviet antiheroes who fashioned a particular Late Soviet ambiguity of good and evil. What does Afonya want? Why was it sometimes hard to be a good Soviet person? Join our film screening to discuss these and many other questions.