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'It is a film about contemporary Russia seen through the set of its oldest Soviet Studios – Lenfilm. And about how the Russian present is turning back towards the Soviet past again. With God not knowing how to handle that situation...' - Antoine Cattin

During the six-year production of German’s final film Hard to Be a God 2013, director Antoine Cattin and cinematographer Pavel Kostomarov were granted unprecedented access to the film’s set. The footage they shot during this period is collected in the revelatory documentary Playback.

Cattin’s film details the trials and tribulations of German’s production, which was shot intermittently between 2000 and 2006. More than a simple ‘behind the scenes’ documentary, it is an intimate and poetic portrait of the filmmaker striving to complete his vision of a febrile universe while contending with the chaotic world of his own set.

Released prior to the premiere of Hard to Be a God, Playback offers a fascinating insight into the creative process of one of the great artists of modern cinema.