An immersion into the intimacy of Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the USSR. The architect of perestroika and glasnost, who was praised in the West but reviled in his own country, still combative despite his advanced age, loneliness and illness, offers his personal and political testament.
In the heart of the Arctic, the Yamal peninsula is the world’s largest gas exploitation zone, a symbol of Russia’s energy hyperpower, which caused the appetite of oil corporations. But the Yamal peninsula is also the ancestral home of the Nenets, who have been pasturing here with their droves for over 200 generations. Every year the nomads undertake a journey of 1500 km. But for how much longer can they survive? Today in Yamal, pastures have given way to gas fields. Growing towns, a railway, an airport, the deep scars on the landscape caused by extraction of gas and oil, and the new nuclear-powered icebreakers, which will create busy shipping lanes in the Arctic, are all changing the local ecosystem. With the industry dramatically modifying the landscape, accelerating the effects of global warming, the Nenets way of life is under threat. The documentary gives a unique insight into a vanishing way of life, enhanced by stunning aerial footage, and rare access to an extraordinary people.
On February 24, 2022, Yevhen, together with his friends, volunteered to join the first aid squad on the front line. They provided life-saving support and evacuation of the wounded. This film reveals the experiences of these young men for six months full of drama, despair, fear, hatred, bitterness, love, and, most importantly, faith in victory.
The enigma of the personality cult is revealed in the grand spectacle of Stalin’s funeral. The film is based on unique archive footage, shot in the USSR on March 5 - 9, 1953, when the country mourned and buried Joseph Stalin.
A girl from St. Petersburg walks around protest-ridden Moscow, talking to riot police and believing that sooner or later they will go over to the side of the demonstrators. An 18-year-old student of a St. Petersburg college introduces herself as Alice and tells about herself that from the age of four she lived in an orphanage and in foster families. In Moscow, Alisa, for whom this is the first rally in her life, walks along the police cordons and looks under the OMON helmet. "Under the mask you can't see, are you even human?"
On August 9, presidential elections were held in Belarus. The results, according to which Alexander Lukashenko won, were not recognized by 14 countries. Protests and mass detentions of protesters have been taking place in the country for more than two months. Documentary director Maxim Shved, in order to capture the mood of people and their political views, installed cameras in the cars of two taxi drivers, Pavel and Anna. They talk to passengers, and inevitably their dialogues come down to politics.
For five teenagers living in the conflict-ridden Donbas region of Ukraine, a Himalayan expedition provides a brief escape from reality. A portrait of a generation that, in spite of everything, is able to recognise and celebrate the fragile beauty of life. The film's working title was "Expedition 49".
10 years after the release of his epic film “Maidan”, Sergei Loznitsa resumes his Ukrainian chronicles by documenting the country’s struggle against the Russian invasion. Shot over a 2-year period, the film portrays the life of the civilian population all over Ukraine. THE INVASION presents a unique and ultimate statement of Ukrainian resilience in the face of barbaric invasion. In the second part of his Ukrainian diptych, Loznitsa paints a monumental canvas of a nation determined to defend its right to exist.
The film Broken Ties, by independent Russian filmmaker Andrei Loshak, is an unflinching portrayal of families divided by war. It features seven different pairings, whose members speak periodically with Loshak, one-to-one, to explain their points of view. Their conversations extend over the war's first three months, during which time their opinions evidence no change. The film makes no attempt at dialogue -- on the contrary, it is a testimony to the absence of dialogue amidst an unfolding war, and an unsentimental diagnosis of the sickness of a society in which official propaganda proves stronger than even the most intimate family ties.
Documentary about the life of Sergei Parajanov, a prominent Soviet-era filmmaker who was active in Ukraine, Georgia and Armenia and was persecuted by the communist government for his views on the pretext of his homosexuality, which was a crime in the USSR. The centerpiece of this documentary is Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors, a 1965 movie directed by Parajanov, that awakened the Ukrainian national consciousness which had been suppressed by decades of Soviet rule.
This film about the Baltic nation of Lithuania from 1989 to 1991, when it broke away from the Soviet Union. This period of peaceful protests involving lots of singing came to be known as the "singing revolution."
Two young intellectuals, Katya and Vassya, come to a small industrial town to work as teachers. They want to change the system of scholastic education and the social situation in difficult regions. The school is a closed conservative world, where obedience and discipline are of the highest value. Young teachers discover that nationalism, sexism and homophobia are typical for their new environment. Children see the school as a prison and are completely indifferent to any new ideas. During one school year we observe attempts of our protagonists to bring new practices into the system. Young teachers try to speak with children about feminism, human rights and Russian politics, but the system pushes them out, and a comedy turns into a drama.
The sequel to the series, filmed on the eve of the next "elections", tells how the lives of activists who dreamed together with Navalny of a beautiful Russia of the future have dramatically changed in 6 years. Filming was almost completed when it became known about the death of the politician. The characters of the film are wondering: How can you live without dreams and hope?
In Belarus, the presidential elections of 2020 triggered massive protests and brutal repressions when «concerned» citizens began to report random strangers, their own coworkers, friends, and even relatives to the police—those who participated in protest actions or those who simply publicly voiced their opinion. What was the motivation behind such calls? Who are these people? How do they live today? This will be discussed in the documentary "Everything is fine. I'm sleeping."
The Zharkov family-father, mother and two young sons-belong to the Dolgan community, one of the last indigenous peoples pursuing their traditional nomadic life in the extreme north of Siberia. The children used to be sent to boarding school, where they became estranged from their family and culture, but nowadays they can get homeschooling from teachers assigned to them by the Russian authorities. Seven-year-old Zakhar and his older brother Prokopy are the protagonists in this calm, observational film. Zakhar's first year of schooling is with Nelly, a young but serious teacher. She tells him about President Putin and the importance of mathematics, and he learns classical poems by heart.
The presidential campaign in Belarus in 2020 did not bode well for surprises. The permanent (since 1994) head of state Alexander Lukashenko went to his sixth term. During this time, an authoritarian political regime was established in the country. None of the real applicants were registered as presidential candidates: some were arrested, others left the country. As a result, the only competitor of the incumbent president was the housewife, the wife of one of the political prisoners, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya.
Liza's desire to go insane and commit herself to a mental hospital seems logical in Putin's Russia. Love for a young man who is about to be taken to war and the conciliatory position of parents towards the war in Ukraine literally do not allow the young girl, who is on the verge of despair, to breathe.
Such children in Ukraine are born 5-6 per year. No one knows the exact numbers. Every second - dies as a baby. Their skin is fragile, like the wings of butterflies. This disease is incurable. But with the right care, they can live. “The most important thing for a child is a stable, reliable mother. The child can have any condition of pain, wounds, and the mother should be close, like a rock. And then the child feels the strength that his mother loves him and in any condition he is sick, screaming, or more calm, his mother is always there. ”
Underground Belarusian poets read their own verses inspired by the experience of living in 2020s Belarus. Sometimes poetic fiction and harsh reality collide in the picturesque backgrounds.
Tyva, the poorest region of Russia, ranks first in the country in terms of the number of confirmed losses in the war in Ukraine per capita. Nadezhda Baykara, a resident of the small Tuvan village of Sush, is proud that the men from her family have always served. My uncle died on the territory of Ukraine in the Great Patriotic War, my son participated in the seizure of Crimea, was in Syria. In the spring, Nadezhda's beloved grandson, Aldyn-Herel, died in the war in Ukraine. Baykara is sure that her other grandson will also become a soldier. Meanwhile, local shamans perform rituals to protect soldiers sent to Ukraine from death. Only a few young Tuvans, despite the risks, dare to speak out against the war.
