phenomenon attends to the possibility of rendering sensible the psycho-somatic manifestations of a historical moment alongside its material support. The film indirectly maps the conditions pertaining to the imminent collapse of the Soviet Union and the infra-perceptible atmospheres surrounding it. It represents a coming into being of a specific time and place, as well as a conjuring of the ambiental tonalities of an obsolete material reality: the hi8 analog video format and the material conditions of socialism. Departing from the conception of the archival as disembodied, phenomenon resurrects the energetic fields embedded into its footage, animating the electrostatic vibrations immanent to the archival record, its residual excess of meaning as well as its resistant opacity. — Letitia Calin