Does a paper analyzing a non-existent documentary violate academic integrity? The paper confronts this head-on, arguing that film studies often analyzes “the implied film”—the one described in reviews, production notes, or memory. Baltic Sun serves as a ghost film , a placeholder for all the documentaries that were never funded, never distributed, or lost in the chaos of post-Soviet archives. Analyzing it allows us to discuss the genre’s limits : what could not be filmed about Russia in 2003 because it was too painful, too banal, or too slow for television.
The Baltic Sun at St. Petersburg 2003 documentary was produced by the Estonian Broadcasting Corporation and the Finnish Broadcasting Corporation, in collaboration with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra. The documentary was filmed over two days in June 2003, during a historic concert series that brought together some of the finest musicians from the Baltic region and beyond. The concert series was a celebration of the cultural and musical heritage of the Baltic states, and the documentary was created to capture the magic of the performances and share them with a wider audience. baltic sun at st petersburg 2003 documentary