:: IFFK 2008 ::

Guerrilla warfare and insurgency have scarred many a soul. Postcards from Leningrad (Postales de Leningrado), directed by Mariana Rondon, unfolds through the eyes of two little children, as they relive the memories of revolutionary life of their parents through their games.

Postcards from Leningrad is uniquely stylized, with the narration shifting back and forth several times as if someone were reciting the events from memory bit by bit. The film begins on a light note but gains rapid progression by highlighting the lives of the revolutionaries with innovative cross-cuttings. One comes across the dialectical analysis of the turbulent times of Latin America in the sixties. The repressive measures as depicted in the film show how the CIA is active in small nations, jeopardizing the usual flow of mountainous life.

The film is engaging in content and form. The visuals portraying guerrilla life contrast with the young voices of the children and their laughter. The children spend their days in a make-believe world, the only way they can remain with their parents.

Mainstream films have dealt with insurgent life and their wars, but Postcards from Leningrad is a refreshing experience for its unique treatment. The children, the two cousins, continue to receive postcards from their parents fighting at Leningrad. They await them knowing well that only postcards will come for them. Leningrad, they realize, is a place from where no dad or mom can ever return.