Documentary, 4K, stereo, color, ca. 26 min.

Searching for Lenin's head (work-in-progress)

A wide-eyed American filmmaker and a tenacious German museum director join forces to excavate the 3.5 ton head of the Berlin Lenin statue.


In this sequel to his 1996 cult short The Book of Lenins, filmmaker Rick Minnich documents the media spectacle surrounding the controversial excavation of the head of the Berlin Lenin statue, which he and his team had dug up twenty-five years earlier.

The result is an ironic look at how East and West Germans are still struggling to come to terms with their very different legacies.

Watch the short 3Sat report about the 100th anniversary of Lenin’s death featuring Rick and his excavation of the Berlin Lenin statue. In German with English subtitles.

Writer/Director/Producer Rick Minnich
Cinematography Mohamed Abdelbary, Carmen Ho, Rick Minnich, Malachi Rempen,  Jiji Sattabongkot 
Sound Giovanni Zaninotto, Johanna Raabe
Production Our Man In Berlin
Director Rick Minnich (pointing) directs the excavation of the head of the East Berlin Lenin statue in the film "The Book of Lenins." l to r: director of photography Axel Schneppat, writer/director Rick Minnich, production manager Ulrich Stiehm, sound recordist Christian Eulitz
Writer/director Rick Minnich directs a shot from atop the head of the East Berlin Lenin statue during the shooting of the film "The Book of Lenins. l to r: Rick Minnich, director of photography Axel Schneppat, sound recordist Christian Eulitz
Writer/director Rick Minnich climbs out of the hole where he and the crew of the film "The Book of Lenins" have excavated the head of the East Berlin Lenin statue.
The crew of "The Book of Lenins" dig for the head of the East Berlin Lenin statue. l to r: director of photography Axel Schneppat, production manager Ulrich Stiehm, writer/director Rick Minnich, sound recordist Christian Eulitz
Head of the Berlin Lenin statue being raised from the location where it had been buried.