Art & Culture History 52'

The Gulag Archipelago

Only a handful of books have had a real impact on world history, and The Gulag Archipelago is one of them. From its publication in 1973, the book was a huge success, with translations in tens of languages.

How did the author, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn - a one-time Zek - manage to conceive this literary and political masterpiece in secret, despite KGB surveillance? Why, after so many others, did this book finally succeed in opening the eyes of the West to the reality of the Soviet regime? How did this book shake the regime in the USSR, despite being prohibited?

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn defends the power of literature in the face of historical falsification. At a time when Vladimir Putin's Russia is sinking into post-truth, it is more than obvious that Solzhenitsyn's struggle has lost none of its force. Fifty years after the publication of The Gulag Archipelago, the questions raised by the writer resonate as never before.

Direction: Philippe Picard & Jérôme Lambert

Production: Zadig Productions for ARTE

Languages: French, English

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