Once in the XX Century (2004)

Afonya

The 1975 film by Georgi Daneliya "Afonya" was an unexpected commercial hit in USSR. The main character "Afonya" Borshev is a plumber, who spends his life partying with "buddies", many of whom he doesn't even remember after nights of heavy drinking. His wife leaves him, his boss places him on probation, his whole life is falling apart, but he doesn't realize it. Afonya met Katya at a dance club, yet didn't pay her much attention. But she is the one, who can save him... In this movie Daneliya achieves a perfect balance of satire and drama. Quotes from the movie gained a cult status in USSR.

Kin-dza-dza!

Two Soviet humans previously unknown to each other are transported to the planet Pluke in the Kin-dza-da galaxy due to a chance encounter with an alien teleportation device. They must come to grips with a language barrier and Plukian social norms (not to mention the laws of space and time) if they ever hope to return to Earth.

Getting LOST

A documentary revisiting the global television phenomenon LOST. Featuring interviews with the cast and crew, as well as members of the loyal fan base who still celebrate the show twenty years after it originally aired.

Astrakan 79

1979. Flicking through pictures from a Soviet magazine, 15-year-old Martim dreams of building a new society. His radical communist parents send him to study at Astrakan for one year. In her new film, Catarina Mourão captures with tremendous precision the moment a middle-aged man passes his story on to his son, thus shedding the taboo of his ineffable experience.

Disaster at Chernobyl

The explosion at Chernobyl was ten times worse than the Hiroshima bomb and was due to a combination of human error and imperfect technology. An account of the sixty critical minutes prior to the explosion of the nuclear power plant on the night of April 26, 1986.

The Wild Swans

Once upon a time, a King had eleven sons and one daughter. When his wife, the Queen, died, the King remarried. The new wife and the children's stepmother looks beautiful on the outside, but actually she's an evil witch. She sends the young princess Eliise to live in the village as an ordinary peasant girl and turns all the princes into wild swans. The princes are stuck being swans all day long and only at night can they regain their true form. When Eliise is 15 years old, she learns about the fate of her brothers and now she must overcome the obstacles put in her way by her stepmother in order to release her brothers from the spell.

The Snow Queen

The film tells a story about the extraordinary journey of the modest little girl Gerda. She is looking for her friend Kai, who was kidnapped and taken to her kingdom by the powerful evil Snow Queen. In search of her beloved friend, Gerda ends up in the castle to the cunning, insidious and at the same time funny king, meets forest robbers. On the way, the girl will have many obstacles before the decisive battle with the Snow Queen. But Gerda’s faithful heart will overcome all adversity...

A Fairy Tale Told at Night

A story based on the tales "The Marble Heart" and "The Spessart Inn" by Wilhelm Hauff.

The Master and Margarita

Moscow, 1930s. A prominent writer's works are suddenly censored by the Soviet state and the premiere of his theatrical play about Pontius Pilate is canceled. He's kicked out of the Soviet Writer's Union, and quickly turns into an outcast with no means to survive. Inspired by Margarita - his lover, he begins working on a new novel in which all the characters are satirically reinterpreted from his life. The novel's central character is Woland - a mystical dark force who visits Moscow to revenge all those who caused the writer's downfall. As the Master sinks himself deeper and deeper into his novel, adding himself and Margarita as characters, he gradually stops noticing as the border between reality and his imagination fades away.

Chervonyi

Year 1947. Commander of UPA Danylo Chervonyi gets into the terrible slaughter of Stalin's camps, where he must go through hell and inhumane prison conditions, prosecution of criminal leaders, meanness, betrayal and despair. Danylo finds the strength to resist repression of the camp commander and makes a desperate attempt to break free, raising the first rebel in the camp.

Drumline

A talented street drummer from Harlem enrolls in a Southern university, expecting to lead its marching band's drumline to victory. He initially flounders in his new world, before realizing that it takes more than talent to reach the top.

One, Two, Three

C.R. MacNamara is a managing director for Coca Cola in West Berlin during the Cold War, just before the Wall is put up. When Scarlett, the rebellious daughter of his boss, comes to West Berlin, MacNamara has to look after her, but this turns out to be a difficult task when she reveals to be married to a communist.

The Chronicles of Melanie

The 14th of June 1941, Soviet-occupied Latvia: Without warning, the authorities break into the house of Melanie and her husband Aleksandr and force them to leave everything behind. Together with more than 15 000 Latvians, Melanie and her son get deported to Siberia. In her fight against cold, famine and cruelty, she only gains new strength through the letters she writes to Aleksandr, full of hope for a free Latvia and a better tomorrow.

The Marriage of Figaro

Comedy in five acts by Beaumarchais, filmed by Marcel Bluwal in studio and on location. The cast, in accordance with Marcel Bluwal's wishes, is in keeping with the age and character of the characters, to give it rhythm. At once "a comic baroque play, a bourgeois drama, a chansonnier's number, a social satire, a farce and a very pretty love story" according to Marcel Bluwal, it can also be summed up, according to Beaumarchais, as "the most bantering of intrigues".

Island Ablazed

Documentary recounting the story of the Cuban Revolution and its impact on the young people of Cuba.

Rouge ! L'Art au pays des soviets

Plot unavailable

Strip and War

The film tells the story of a small family, consisting of a grandfather retired from the army, and his stripper grandson. It is not just a story of a relationship, but rather a reflection of entire Belarus and the post-Soviet, pro-Russian world. Moreover, it's a universally-recognized reflection of a generation gap.

The Mulberry Tree

In their first collaboration Melkonian and cinematographer Mikhail Vartanov film two neighbour families that both claim ownership of a huge mulberry tree growing in the middle of their two houses.

Tjvjik

Rich Nikoghos-agha buys some beef liver for Nerses-akhpar's family. Although months have passed, Nikoghos-agha does not hesitate to remind his "charity" to Nerses-akhpar every time they met.

Chernobyl 30 Years On: Nuclear Heritage

Thirty years after the Chernobyl disaster, which occurred on the night of April 26, 1986, its causes and consequences are examined. In addition, a report on efforts to strengthen the structures covering the core of the nuclear plant in order to better protect the population and the environment is offered.

Silent Wedding

In a small village of Communist-era Romania a young couple wish to marry, but Joseph Stalin dies the night prior to their wedding ceremony forcing the bride and groom to marry in silence.

Adam's Rib

The film is based on the story of Anatoly Kurchatkin "House of Women". A tragicomedy about four women of three generations who lives in a tiny Moscow apartment: a sick grandmother, constantly requiring attention; a mother, very peculiar woman, who still hoping to somehow arrange her personal life; and two daughters, each of whom has a lot of problems.

Man with a Movie Camera

A cameraman wanders around with a camera slung over his shoulder, documenting urban life with dazzling inventiveness.

Soviet Hippies

The hippie movement that captivated hundreds of thousands of young people in the West had a profound impact on the other side of the Iron Curtain. Within the Soviet system, a colorful crowd of artists, musicians, freaks, vagabonds and other long-haired drop-outs created their own system, which connected those who believed in peace, love, and freedom for their bodies and souls. More than 40 years later, a group of eccentric hippies from Estonia take a road trip to Moscow where the hippies still gather annually on the 1st of June for celebration that is related to the tragic event in 1971, when thousands of Soviet hippies were arrested by the KGB. The journey through time and dimensions goes deep into the psychedelic underground world in which these people strived for freedom.

Ballad of Khevsureti

When Imeda’s father is killed in a blood revenge accident, the family moves him to the city where he is sheltered at his father’s friend. After fifteen year he gets back to Khevsureti. A talented painter, he spends most of his time doing sketches of nature and people. There he meets a local beauty, Mzekala and fells in love with her but finds out that Torghva is also in love with her. Enraged by Imeda’s impudence Torghva calls him for a sword fight and is killed by Imeda. To avoid another round of blood revenge, the villagers let Imeda and Mzekala out of the village but someone who wants Imeda’s blood finds it out and follows them.

Adult Children

Anatoli Kuzmich retired and received a separate apartment in a new house. He and his wife are happy and make bright plans for the future: how they will go to theaters, museums, read their favorite books. But their daughter Lyusya suddenly gets married. Not wanting to part with her, Korolyovs persuade the young spouses to live with them in a new apartment. Soon a child is born, and gradually life together becomes unbearable...

October Days

Historical drama depicting the events leading up to the 1917 October Revolution produced to celebrate the 40th anniversary.

Synonymous With

A student's increasingly intimate line of questioning causes his interview with a local horror host to take a vulnerable turn.

Norwegian Ninja

Norwegian Ninja is the true story of how Commander Arne Treholt and his Ninja Force saved Norway during the Cold War. In 1983 the Ninja Force discovers that the sinister NATO force Stay Behind, who take charge in times of war and emergency, are planning a coup-d'état in peacetime. Treholt and the Ninjas see only one solution: a full can of whoop-ass.

Andrey Tarkovsky. A Cinema Prayer

An account of the life and work of Russian filmmaker Andrey Tarkovsky (1932-86) in his own words: his memories, his vision of art and his reflections on the fate of the artist and the meaning of human existence; through extremely rare audio recordings that allow a complete understanding of his inner life and the mysterious world existing behind his complex cinematic imagery.

Disco and Atomic War

A different history of the Cold War: how Estonians under Soviet tyranny began to feel the breeze of freedom when a group of anonymous dreamers successfully used improbable methods to capture the Finnish television signal, a window into Western popular culture, brave but harmless warriors who helped change the fate of an entire nation.

Flying Supersonic

Thundering across the sky on elegant white wings, the Concorde was an instant legend. But behind the glamour of jet setting at Mach 2 were stunning scientific innovations and political intrigue. Fifteen years after Concorde's final flight, this documentary takes you inside the historic international race to develop the first supersonic airliner. Hear stories from those inside the choreographed effort to design and build Concorde in two countries at once - and the crew members who flew her.

The Way Back

At the dawn of WWII, several men escape from a Russian gulag—to take a perilous and uncertain journey to freedom as they cross deserts, mountains and several nations.

Russian Close-Up

Albert Maysles' visual diary of the faces and places encountered along a cross country motorscooter ride through the Soviet Union in the late 1950s.