IN THE FOG New Auteurs

Adapted from the novel by Vasili Bykov, recent Palme d’Or nominee IN THE FOG is director Sergei Loznitsa’s sobering meditation on the complicated moral decisions faced by both soldiers and citizens during wartime.  Set in Nazi-occupied Belarus, Loznitsa’s film begins with the hanging of three villagers for conspiring against their German oppressors.  Later that night, Sushenya – a man who stood accused but was spared by the Germans – is visited by two of his country’s resistance fighters, who intend to execute him for presumed collaboration with the Nazis.  When their plan is interrupted by enemy fire, all three men become unwilling companions on an evasive trek through the forest.  Through flashbacks, Loznitsa closely examines how each of the men reached this point.  Impeccably directed, these haunting sequences all turn on an impossible choice and focus in on the torturous moments of quiet before each man chose a course of action that would yield devastating consequences for himself, his family and his fellow countrymen.