''89mm from Europe'' ( pl, 89 mm od Europy) is a 1993 Polish

short Short may refer to: Places * Short (crater), a lunar impact crater on the near side of the Moon * Short, Mississippi, an unincorporated community * Short, Oklahoma, a census-designated place People * Short (surname) * List of people known as ...

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

directed by

Marcel Łoziński Marcel Łoziński (born 17 May 1940) is a Polish film director and screenwriter. He has directed 22 films since 1972. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short for '' 89mm from Europe''. He was born in Paris, France. Sel ...

, looking at the 89 mm difference in

track gauge In rail transport, track gauge (in American English, alternatively track gage) is the distance between the two rails of a railway track. All vehicles on a rail network must have wheelsets that are compatible with the track gauge. Since many d ...

between Russian and European railroads after the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

. It was nominated for an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

for Best Documentary Short.

Plot

The film shows the fundamental differences between

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and

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even after the end of the Cold War, based on one detail: the width of the railroad tracks. 89 mm from

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

shows the efforts of Belarusian workers who collectively replace the wheels of trains passing through the former

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

on the Polish-Belarusian border near

Brest Brest may refer to: Places *Brest, Belarus **Brest Region **Brest Airport **Brest Fortress *Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria *Břest, Czech Republic *Brest, France **Arrondissement of Brest **Brest Bretagne Airport ** Château de Brest *Brest, ...

. The title 89 mm is the difference between the track gauge in Europe (1435 mm) and in the former

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

(1524 mm), with a historical explanation dating back to the 19th century; a different gauge was to prevent German military trains from quickly penetrating the borders of

Tsarist Russia Tsarist Russia may refer to: * Grand Duchy of Moscow (1480–1547) *Tsardom of Russia (1547–1721) *Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of ...

Awards

89 mm from Europe was the first film by Łoziński in which he really reached an international audience after the fall of the

Eastern Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...

. The documentary was nominated for an

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology), ...

for the best short documentary and for the

European Film Awards The European Film Awards (or European Film Academy Awards) have been presented annually since 1988 by the European Film Academy to recognize excellence in European cinematic achievements. The awards are given in 19 categories, of which the most ...

for the best documentary, it also won the Grand Prix of the Montreal Film Festival.

Accolades

Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject) This is a list of films by year that have received an Academy Award together with the other nominations for best documentary short film. Following the Academy's practice, the year listed for each film is the year of release: the awards are annou ...

nomination *

European Film Award for Best Documentary The European Film Award for Best Documentary or Prix Arte has been awarded annually since 1989 by the European Film Academy. Special Mentions were presented alongside the winner of the award until 1993, since 1999 a set of nominees are presented o ...

Special Mention European Film Academy: European Film Awards Winners 1993
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References

External links

*

at Studio Filmowe Kalejdoskop {{DEFAULTSORT:89mm From Europe 1990s short documentary films 1993 films 1993 independent films 1990s Russian-language films Polish short documentary films Polish independent films Polish black-and-white films Films directed by Marcel Lozinski Black-and-white documentary films Documentary films about rail transport Rail transport in Russia Track gauges 1520 mm gauge railways