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A prominent Russian ballet dancer and teacher Alexander Shiryaev had another talent hidden for almost a century. Archive materials that date back to 1906 reveal his bold experiments at stop-motion and paper animation.

The true history of Japanese Unit 731, from its beginnings in the 1930s to its demise in 1945, and the subsequent trials in Khabarovsk, USSR, of many of the Japanese doctors from Unit 731. The facts are told, and previously unknown evidence is revealed by an eyewitness to these events, former doctor and military translator, Anatoly Protasov.

The film tells about one of the most beautiful love stories of the 20th century. According to everyone who witnessed the relationship between the famous French actress Marina Vlady and the great Russian poet and actor Vladimir Vysotsky, it was that extraordinary love that we usually read about only in books. Marina Vladi herself will share her memories in an exclusive interview. The film contains rare documentary footage with Vladimir Vysotsky.

The film is based on the memoirs of Klavdiya Shulzhenko and her songs: "The Blue Scarf", "Three Waltzes", "Silence", "Hands", "The Note". The film features archival footage, as well as scenes shot in Kharkiv and Paris.

Three young women, who each have a sought-after commodity - their virginity. Kristina, Karina and Katya each try to make their way in a world ruled by fame, popularity and money.

A poetic view of Russian animation and of cultural and social transformations Russian society has been gone through. It is about multi faceted and humorous animation, almost never exposed to western eyes.

The film includes only twelve incredible stories about people and their cars. These are small stories about twelve iconic models produced by the Gorky Automobile Plant at different times of its existence. The history of Russia in the twentieth century is most directly connected with the history of GAS. Because the history of Russia was created on cars with this trademark.

With capitalism and corruption becoming more entrenched in Russia, a father and his teenage son gear up for a yearlong political campaign to unseat President Putin in the 2008 elections and shift the country back toward socialism. Aliona Polunina's thoughtful documentary follows Anatoly and Andrei in their struggle to recreate a revolutionary fervor in a society that seems to be embracing the materialist values of the West.

Trilogy about love, experienced at different moments in life, by different people: an old couple, a young couple and two children at infant school.

"Bania" is an exploration Russian society through its bath-houses in the city, the countryside, in a monastery, a factory or a prison. The film plays with the boundaries between personal and social space in scenes where naked bodies, marked by tattoos, suffering, labour or war, tell a tale. This film was made by a photographer who, confronted by these naked bodies bathed in steam, invents an unique and timeless plastic world, in the style of classical painting.

This documentary follows ex-spy Alexander Litvinenko from his forced exile from Russia, to his death from poisoning in November of 2006.

Having gone to Samarkand in search of traces of colonial culture, of which there were quite a few left there, having carefully photographed them, we suddenly discovered that it was not the dead buildings that were much more interesting, but the living carriers of this very colonial culture. The result is a film about people who live on the ruins of an empire.

A meld of legendary performers and contemporary artists of today who have been influenced by Ray's music perform in this concert extravaganza.

The fascinating and tumultuous lives of Mikhail, Boris and Denis Kaufman (better known as Dziga Vertov) are the focus of this powerful documentary. Using rare archival footage from Russian state film archives and private collections, the brothers' lives and art are traced from Bialystok to Moscow, Paris, and Hollywood.

The telefilm is dedicated to one of the greatest conductors of the 20th century, Yevgeny Fyodorovich Svetlanov.

The hero of the film, the famous director, screenwriter, playwright Vasily Sigarev, tells stories from his life, which, when slightly transformed, become the stories of his plays. For the residents of his native Verkhnyaya Salda it's everyday. For the capital's theaters - an unprecedented reality of provincial life. For the audience - and laughter and horror. For the playwright - numerous prizes and endless pain.

The word Chernobyl became known worldwide shortly after the 1986 blast. The small town Pripyat, situated just 3 km from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, up to this day serves to remind about the extent of the tragedy. Pripyat used to be a lively little town, both a powerful nuclear centre and a conveniently planned city with schools and urban apartments. It is now a dead, lifeless stretch of land littered with scraps of the past.

Alisa Freindlich is remembered by audiences for her unique performances in *“Office Romance,” “The Straw Hat,” “Stalker,”* and many other films. Not only her colleagues on set, but also her family will talk about the life, character, and career of the iconic actress.

Not far from Grozny, on an alternate railroad track, there is an old steam locomotive with several wagons attached to it. The steam engine gives steam — hot water is in the boilers, and a bathhouse is equipped in the cars, where soldiers and officers wash, laundry is washed ... A washing on wheels — at the same time a soldier’s bivouac, a piece of peaceful life, and the beginning of a new road. To this locomotive, these cars come - platooned, in batches and one at a time - tired, tired, unshaven, angry Russian guys. They scrape dirt off themselves. Soak from stubborn soot, warm with souls. They put on clean underwear. They drink vodka. They smoke. They talk about love, remember loved ones and native places. Cry. They sing. And around - the landscape after the battle. It's not over yet ... An accidental explosion. Stray bullet. And our guys washed into the unknown. Clean. Hoping to survive.

Pseudo-scientific documentary film that expresses a number of para- and pseudo- scientific views on the properties of water and so-called the memory of water, which are presented by its authors as scientific.

The art, destiny, and relationship of two geniuses of world cinema: Andrei Tarkovsky and Sergei Parajanov.

The conflict surrounding the production of Andrei Tarkovsky's 1979 masterpiece 'Stalker', as well as a look at the tragic character that was Georgi Rerberg.

Alexander Zinoviev is recognized as an outstanding scientist in the field of sign theory and the theory and theory of induction, is one of the three strongest logicians in the world, Doctor of Philosophy, professor of logic, author of more than 40 books, among which are famous "Gaping Heights".

The daily life of the Dalai Lama is brought home with remarkable intimacy in SUNRISE/SUNSET. Granted total access to His Holiness for 24 hours, this is a day in the life of the Dalai Lama from when he wakes up at 3 a.m. until his bedtime at dusk.

A documentary-fiction hybrid film based on the works of Joseph Brodsky.

The career of revered Russian filmmaker Mikhail Kalatozov is explored in this documentary film comprised of rare behind-the-scenes footage, interviews with French director Claude Lelouch, and conversations with some of the biggest names in contemporary Russian cinema. Kalatozov's grandson Mikhail Kalatozishvili pays tribute to the director of such timeless classics as I Am Cuba, Salt for Svanetia, and The Cranes are Flying as such notable fans as Andrei Konchalovsky, Sergei Solovyov, and Alexei Batalov discuss the remarkable influence Kalatozov had on their own film careers.

The film is about the complex, passionate and at the same time deeply respectful relationship between two genius directors, a teacher (Meyerhold) and a student (Eisenstein). In the most difficult conditions of the totalitarian regime, adherence to eternal values helped both defend their art and themselves in it, preserve honor and dignity. Their relationship, creative and everyday actions are not only an artistic, but also a moral testament to future generations.

Documentary about director's mother.

No matter how far the war retreats, its traces are imprinted on the torn earth and the memory of generations for tens, hundreds of years with bloody traces. The body of the earth is burned by shells, torn apart by mines - and we are its Parts. The heroes of the film are young Caucasian guys-children of the war that destroyed their childhood and youth. In this black-and-white movie, the past, present and future alike merge into the color of the tragedy of all times and peoples – the color of war.

Russian Poet Boris Ryzhy was handsome, talented and famous. So why did he end his own life at the age of 26? A quest to find the answer takes the filmmaker to the notorious neighbourhood in the cold industrial city of Yekaterinenburg where Boris grew up...

Documentary about director's father

This film is about one of these stringers: Michael Schmidt. One of the main questions of the film: what makes a person exist in a situation of constant risk to life? Is it just a game, extreme entertainment or something more? Michael has been covering the Arab-Israeli conflict for many years, where periods of aggravation are replaced by calm. But even during a lull, when there is no front line, there are no thousands of victims, and a bullet will fly over your head, if you only look for it for a long time, the war remains a war...

Yulia is sixteen, she lives in a hut and is pregnant. Vanya lives with his parents in a five-story building. His parents are against mesalliance and do not let the couple on the threshold.

The libretto is by Mussorgsky himself and takes the eponymous “romantic tragedy” by the celebrated Russian poet Alexander Pushkin as its starting point. Boris Godunov is Mussorgsky’s masterpiece and his only complete opera. It’s a vast sprawling tapestry of Russian life, which centres on the Russian people – represented in the opera by a large and powerful chorus – rather than on the title figure. The staging was produced at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona and is based on the original version of the score.

Short movie shows us a life in the Moscow Headquarter of the National Bolshevik Party and contains several interviews with a party members.

On the 50th anniversary of the Minister of Emergency Situations Sergei Shoigu, with whom the director has a long-term friendship.

A three-part documentary film (Russian Roulette, Lords of the Kremlin, and The Last Battle) directed by Alexander Gentelev based on the events that took place in Russia in 1991-2000.

The director tells the story of Boris Grebenshchikov through the image of Leo Tolstoy. According to Viktor Tikhomirov, both heroes are similar "in their delusions and achievements". The film has a lot of chronicles and, of course, Grebenshchikov's songs sound, and George Gunitsky described the tape after its premiere at Pushkinskaya 10: "A completely untethered and insanely surreal film in a good way. And it is gratifying that all this postmodern film improvisation is involved on a cool aquarium basis. We need to look at the picture again once or twice, get a better understanding of it. And savor it. A very worthy work."

Concert-film about the work of Russian musician Viktor Tsoy.

A documentary about naturism in St. Petersburg, Russia, with discussions with Russian naturists about how they got involved in naturism and the problems they have faced due to being a naturist.

A brilliant observational documentary filmed at the Civil Registry office in St. Petersburg, where people come to have births, marriages, divorces and deaths registered. 'It’s like a theatre here', one says in the beginning of the film, and it indeed is, the Theater of Life. The young women working in the office have a job that shifts from being verbally attacked and called idiots, to situations where they are subject to flirt, or where they master the happy ceremony of marriage. Faces, joy, sorrow, fun, despair... It’s all very well composed, rhythmical, with atmosphere conveyed, and lives up to what a documentary should be: multilayered and universal. And about Life.

Andrey Konchalovsky's project "the Burden of power" is about unpopular decisions of heads of state and political figures in power. The heroes of the cycle "Burden of power" can not be called fighters for liberal ideas, but they paradoxically had a huge impact on the fate and development of their countries. "I am very interested in documentaries. It has a different function than the artistic one. I can Express my thoughts directly here. In documentaries, I speak in the first person, and I am responsible for my words. I am seriously concerned with the relationship between power and culture. The "Burden of power"series is about people who are most often perceived from the point of view of cliches ("Secretary of the Central Committee"," dictator"), and little thought is given to what role they played in the life of the nation."

This intimately narrated journey from Russia to Rotterdam, via rail, road and Finnish ferry, is a melancholy meditation on divinity, time and place in art, purpose (or its lack) and the loneliness of the soul. Passing through misty snowscapes, half-glimpsed cities and the icy night sea-swell.

An almost unknown girl Frida accompanied Aleksandr Volodin to the front. When he returned, he married her. A sense of duty and gratitude bound them, but this did not prevent him from continuing to search for a female ideal... The name of the poet and playwright Aleksandr Volodin is familiar to everyone who loves russian cinema and theater. The films Elder Sister, Five Evenings, The Magician, Autumn Marathon, the famous performances of the Tovstonogov's BDT and Efremov's Sovremennik, staged according to his plays, were remembered for their unique intonation, the soft, not at all edifying voice of a person who knows something about life that we pass by without noticing. Most of Volodin's works are autobiographical, he writes about his generation, about the generation "scorched by war".

The frank conversation of two sisters about their mother against the background of the older sister's daily life.

A romantic story of a family of clowns, the birth of their circus numbers, told by the main characters themselves, clowns Dolly and Domino. As in any family, there are problems here. Not all of them develop easily and naturally, as in the circus arena. But great love for each other, for their profession, for the art to which their lives are dedicated, helps them cope with all problems.

The history of Russian animated films.

The Leningrad period of V. Putin's life.

Anton was born in April 1985. Doesn't know the father. The mother wanted to leave him in the hospital. Anton was raised by a blind grandmother. Now Anton is graduating from the Conservatory and writing music.

Nina Sazonova's heroines are inseparable from her personal fate as a man who survived the war, experienced a lot of grief and losses, and endured severe life trials. She rightfully holds a special and honorable place in the wonderful galaxy of artists of the Russian Army Theater. Her roles in the plays "Vassa", "Drummers", "Trees die standing" brought her national love. The images she created in cinema, such as Ekaterina, are also unforgettable. ("Women"), Anisya ("There's a Guy like That"), the Ivanovs' mother ("Our House") and Aunt Pasha from the TV series "Day by Day". All these are not just the roles of a talented actress, they are the fates of a whole generation of Russian women, great workers who endured the torments and hardships of war on their shoulders, lost their husbands, but did not break down, selflessly giving others all their kindness and concern.

The toddlers in a Russian playgroup are showing a striking number of adult traits. Here and there, serious romantic relationships are budding, and some tots are determined to marry. One infant may urge her friend to keep his voice low, or else the filmmakers will hear everything they say, but most pre-schoolers are undisturbed and continue their everyday activities. They play with dolls, hang around on the playground and chatter a lot, particularly about who is whose friend and who is whose lover. In this environment, the direct cinema style seems even more natural than it usually is. Two years ago, IDFA screened Victor Kossakovsky’s film Pavel and Lyalya (a Jerusalem Romance), which dealt with the profound and unselfish love of an elderly couple. In contrast, the infatuations of young kids are volatile and playful, because ten minutes later you can be married to someone else.

The film "All the Vertovs" tells about the Kaufman brothers-David, Mikhail and Boris. All three are world-class filmmakers. Each of them managed to achieve the highest level of proficiency in the profession, each had their own vision of the world and the gift to embody it on the screen in a unique, deeply individual manner.

The true, detailed lives of the girls of the Russian pop duo t.A.T.u. as they break through in their promotional tour in America.