The Human Face of Russia(1984)

Stalin, the Red Tyrant(fr)

On March 9, 1953, Joseph Stalin was buried in Moscow in front of a million people. His funeral is that of a demi-God. Ultimate paradox for one of the greatest criminals in History who brought misfortune to his people while arousing collective admiration.

Closing Gambit: 1978 Korchnoi versus Karpov and the Kremlin(en)

The story of the 1978 World Chess Championship between the Soviet Communist Party's protege, Anatoly Karpov and the traitor and Soviet defector, Viktor Korchnoi. One of those instances in life where truth is stranger than fiction.

The Centuries Surround Me with Fire(en)

A documentary, originally produced for Dutch television, on the life and works of Osip Mandelstam (1891-1938), the groundbreaking Soviet poet and dissident.

CIA vs KGB: Battleground Berlin(fr)

For 50 years, Berlin was the symbol of the Cold War. The city at the heart of the intelligence war between the US and the Soviet bloc. Thousands of KGB or CIA, agents observed each other, cogs in the biggest information war in history.

Women of the Gulag(ru)

Through unique and candid interviews the film tells the compelling and tragic stories of the six women – last survivors of the Gulag, the brutal system of repression and terror that devastated the Soviet population during the regime of Stalin.

Palace for the People(bg)

The life and death of socialist architectural monsters. An epic fairy-tale in five chapters.

X-Ray Audio: The Documentary(en)

Cold War Leningrad: In a culture where the recording industry was ruthlessly controlled by the state, music lovers discovered an extraordinary alternative means of reproduction: they repurposed used x-ray film as the base for records of forbidden songs. Giving blood every week to earn enough money to buy a recording lathe, one bootlegger Rudy Fuchs cuts banned music onto such discarded x-rays to be sold on street corners by shady dealers. It was ultimate act of punk resistance, a two-fingered salute to the repressive regime that gave a generation of young Soviets access to forbidden Western and Russian music, an act for which Rudy and his fellow bootleggers would pay a heavy price.

Disgraced Monuments(en)

Filmmakers Laura Mulvey and Mark Lewis use rare archival footage and interviews with artists, art historians, and museum directors to examine the fate of Soviet-era monuments during successive political regimes, from the Russian Revolution through the collapse of communism. Mulvey and Lewis highlight both the social relevance of these relics and the cyclical nature of history. Broadcast on Channel Four as part of the 'Global Image' series (1992-1994).

The Soviet Union's Last Stand(en)

Documentary telling the inside story of Communist hardliners' failed attempts to seize power from Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev, which resulted in the rapid collapse of the Soviet Union.

MIGNOR(en)

Showing Sergei Parajanov at the end of his life, the film depicts the suffering of a genius against the backdrop of general anxiety and carelessness.

The Russian Cracker(en)

Russia is grappling with a critical issue: they have become the country with the most at large serial killers in the world particularly concentrated in Rostov, the same city that witnessed Andrei Chikatilo's infamous killing spree. In response, law enforcement has turned to Dr. Alexander Bukhanovsky, a prominent psychiatrist and criminal profiler, who is implementing radical measures to understand the root causes of this phenomenon and develop effective solutions. Within Dr. Bukhanovsky's clinic, we encounter three of his young patients: Edward and Igor, whose families express deep concerns about their disturbing fantasies, and 'Mischa', who has perpetrated acts of torture and sexual assault. Dr. Bukhanovsky's approach is groundbreaking, offering treatment to potential serial offenders. However, critics argue that by keeping individuals like 'Mischa' anonymous, he may inadvertently shield them from public awareness and accountability, prompting debate over the ethics of his methods.

Ascension(ru)

Definitively proving that all the "B" Science Fiction of the 1950s and 1960s do not hold a candle to the 'real thing,' Pavel Medvedev's surreal 45 minute documentary Ascension is certainly one to look for. Composed entirely out of archival footage, much of it from the Soviet science and space archives, delicately scored and building to an undeniable mood of surreal (perhaps even ominous) energy, it charts (and re-purposed) the progress of man into to the unknown area of space exploration with a flair for creating art out film that was shot by scientists and engineers as a mundane record.

Rouge ! L'Art au pays des soviets(fr)

Disaster at Chernobyl(en)

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.

People of Russia(en)

This FitzPatrick Miniature visits the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), the largest geographically unbroken political unit in the world, covering one-sixth of the world's land mass.

Barbarossa: Hitler Turns East(hu)

Hitler's invasion of Russia was one of the landmark events of World War II. This documentary reveals the lead-up to the offensive, its impact on the war and the brinksmanship that resulted from the battle for Moscow. Rare footage from both German and Russian archives and detailed maps illustrate the conflict, while award-winning historian and author John Erickson provides insight into the pivotal maneuvers on the eastern front.

The Living(uk)

Tells the story of the tragic events in Ukraine in 1932-33, the genocidal Great Famine or the Holodomor, and one Welshman's attempts to tell the world what was happening.

Chernobyl: The Lost Tapes(en)

The story of Chernobyl told through a newly discovered hoard of dramatic footage filmed at the nuclear plant during the disaster and deeply personal interviews of those who were there, directed by Emmy Award-winner and Russian-speaker James Jones.

Gdud A'liyah(he)

The long lasting Palestinian-Israeli conflict has created appaling phenomenons that have horrified the Israeli society. the "politically conscience-refusals" or those individual soldiers refusing to fight in the occupied territories, are one of those phenomenons. In opposition to them stand a thousand immigrants from the former Soviet Union, ex-military men from the Red Army, who yearn to be recruited into the IDF and fight for Israel, but who are denied the right to serve in the army. Through the stories of Oleg and Alex, immigrants and the battalion's charismatic commanders, the story of the Russkii Battalion is told. It is a story of contrasts between the hardships of the daily struggles they face as new immigrants against the pride and the sense of belonging they find in the battalion. The Russkii Battalion is a film about a militaristic social bubble, in a country that is in constant war.

The Gulag Archipelago: The Book That Changed Russian History(fr)

The story of Russian writer and Soviet dissident Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (1918-2008) and his masterpiece, The Gulag Archipelago, published in Paris in 1973, which forever shook the very foundations of communist ideology.