International House Philadelphia brings Russian documentaries to the screen

International House Philadelphia (3701 Chestnut St.) presents a series of films that highlights a side of Russia not often seen. "Stories from Non-Putin Russia," a month-long showing of documentaries, shows slices of life in the Russian provinces and their distance, both in geography and mentality, from the country's political center. All screenings begin at 7 p.m.

The series begins on Thursday, Aug. 6 with Bliss and Civil Status. In the former, a "miracle baby" is expected in a town — called Bliss — of primarily elderly citizens. Civil Status shows the day-to-day in a registration office where weddings, divorces, births and deaths are made official on paper.

The following day, Friday, Aug. 7, brings the story of a Siberian couple who struggle with having to leave behind their dreams — his, a fisherman and a dancer for her — and cope with isolation in Fisherman and the Dancer. After that, a short, Grandma's Apartment — where two girls live in the inherited apartment of one's late grandmother — will screen.

An elderly woman's daily farm life is profiled in the short Life As it Is on Thursday, Aug. 13. After that, watch children embark on a harrowing journey, wrought with accidents (a car falls through ice, a child burns himself) from boarding school to their small village for winter break in The Holidays.

People lay fast asleep in a small rail station despite the roar of the passing trains. The Station Stop hones in on these folks and why they don't get on a train. The second film in Saturday, Aug. 18's set is The Settlement. Inhabited by patients who perform farm tasks for therapeutic purposes, the film explores post-Soviet society in Russia.

Miners on a forced furlough must turn to hunting in the tundra to earn extra money in the first part of Thursday, Aug. 20's screenings Vacation in November. Following, a nomadic family that specializes in reindeer breeding is captured in the documentary Yaptik – Hasse.

Campsites. Vacationers. Beaches. One season at a Black Sea resort is the focus of Broadway, Black Sea. Next up, a film about a photographer who travels from village to village tasked with taking a new passport picture for all residents is shown. These two screen on Friday, Aug. 21.

You'll get three films on Wednesday, Aug. 26. It begins with Mummies, where two teenagers from different economic backgrounds must find a way to make ends meet before the birth of their child. Two shorts on rural Russians on the opposite ends of the age spectrum follow with Tiny Katerina and Who Mows at Night?

The series comes to a close on Thursday, Aug. 27. In Flight of the Bumblebee, a little boy teeters between revolution and conformity. I Was Going Home… follows a woman who returns to her hometown after leaving her son behind with her parents in Moscow.

For more Things to Do, check out our calendar for the most up-to-date happenings.