Born in the USSR: 21 Up

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Born in the USSR: 21 Up
Directed by	Sergei Miroshnichenko
Narrated by	James McAvoy
Release date(s)	2005
Running time	75 min.
Country	U.K.
Language	English
IMDb profile

Born in the USSR: 21 Up is a 2005 British documentary, directed by Sergei Miroshnichenko.

Following in the tradition of the original UK Up Series, this documentary revisits a group of Russian children at seven year intervals to track their personal development against a backdrop of incredible social and political change. Following the success of the UK original, this particular film looks at life for a group of young people from the former Soviet Union. The adults here, all introduced to viewers at the age of seven and seen again at 14, were born in a country that no longer exists. Their stories provide an insight into the break-up of the former Soviet Union as well as a reflection of what life has become without Communism. Since filming started 21 years ago, some of the youngsters have left the former USSR to go to Israel or the United States, some have stayed in their family home, but all have had their lives changed, and not necessarily for the better. Through archival footage of them at the ages of seven and 14, and now new material at 21, we catch a glimpse of life in a society that was once shut off from the world and is now trying to grab it with both hands. (From the UK, in Russian and English, English subtitles)

[edit] Russian Edit

A special version edited by Miroshnichenko himself totaling close to 3 hours is slated to be aired on Russian television. This will be the first time the series will be shown in Russia and the former-Soviet Union. The documentary will run over two days, divided into two equal parts. This longer and more thorough version will include all the children from the previous documentaries and not only the selected children featured in the UK version. However, because of the agreement with the distributor company, this version cannot be aired outside the Former-Soviet Union. A similar version has been shown to a few selected audiences when Miroshnichenko visited the United States in April 2007.