Die Frau mit den 5 Elefanten

Vadim Jendreyko

Swiss Film Prize 2010: Best Documentary

A fascinating world of culture and humanity at the heart of which the literary text is essential. 5 “elephants” = 5 great books by Dostoyevsky.

The story of Swetlana Geier is exceptional and Vadim Jendreyko delicately draws upon its different threads to weave an account - devoid of any oversimplification - , recounting great misfortunes, coincidences, unexpected luck and a passion for literature. Born in 1923, in Kiev she was 16 when her father died after being released from one of Stalin’s camps, and 19 when 30,000 Jews were murdered near Kiev by the SS commandos. In 1943, she fled to Germany. Her adventure continued with decisive encounters as far as her survival and her language training were concerned, resulting in her becoming a skilled translator and renowned literary academic in the 50s.
By successive strokes, the film depicts aspects of her memory (the archives reflect the big picture she was a witness to) and settles in the house where she lives and does her literary work. She has been very busy since 1992 with five “elephants”, that are “Crime and Punishment”, “The Idiot”, “The Possessed”, “The Raw Youth” and “The Brothers Karamazov” by Fyodor Mikhaylovich Dostoyevsky. Her translations from Russian to German are landmarks. In 2008, it was the turn of “The Gambler” and a year later her last Dostoyevsky, “The House of the Dead”. The secret that Vadim Jendreyko comes close to has to do with the fact that the translation must reach into the heart of the book, to where its inspiration takes its breath and adopts its vision of the world. The threads of a white table cloth are the metaphor of the literary sentences to be woven into a unique text, while remaining aware of the irreducible imperfection of all translations.
While her son was in hospital dying and she cooked for him, Swetlana Geier continued with her work and greeted her proof-reader whose remarks showed great erudition and special attention to the text and its emotion. Their exchanges were classics of the genre. At the heart of DIE FRAU MIT DEN FÜNF ELEFANTEN, there is the Text, which sheds light on our humanity and of which the film approaches an ineffable value in the wake of the exceptional presence of Swetlana Geier.
Jean Perret, Visions du Réel 2009

Vadim Jendreyko

2009 DIE FRAU MIT DEN 5 ELEFANTEN
2004 LEISTUNG AM LIMIT
2003 TRANSIT: ZÜRICH FLUGHAFEN
2000 BASHKIM
1998 KORK
1996 URALT UND DOCH MODERN: BAUEN MIT LEHM
1995 PRIMA MATERIA
1993 PROLOG
1992 AUF DEM WEG DURCHS EXIL
1989 DER KOFFER
1988 INNENRÄUME