A two part documentary about the first five decades of Russian cinema: from its birth to 1953 - the death of Stalin and the first seedlings of the thaw. The film covers the most important milestones of cinema. Its introduction as a lowbrow entertainment, the impact of WWI and revolutions on the film process. The principal masters - Kuleshov, Vertov, Eisenstein - and their discoveries in film language at the turn of the 1920-30s. The arrival of sound. The evacuation of the Soviet film industry during WWII and the heroic work of the wartime documentary crews. Restricted film production and early signs of the thaw in the late 1940s - early 1950s. Film historians and art critics, directors and screenwriters put the history of cinema in a broader context, considering the path that the country took from Tsarist Russia to the totalitarian state under the rule of Stalin.
Vladimir Kocharyan
Director, Writer
Anna Zakrevskaya
Writer
Svetlana Matyushina
Writer
Natalya Ryabchikova
Writer
Zara Abdullayeva
Self
Alexei Aigui
Self
Anton Dolin
Self
Tamara Eidelman
Self
Evgeny Gindilis
Self
Nikolai Izvolov
Self - Russian film historian
Nikolai Kulikov
Self
Georgy Molodtsov
Self
Alexander Rodnyansky
Self
The Director and the Jedi72%
A Decade Under the Influence79%
The Class of ‘9271%
Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound69%
Directed by John Ford70%
In the Realms of the Unreal71%
My Mom Jayne80%
The Skywalker Legacy78%
The Cheshire Murders65%
The Curious Birth of Benjamin Button69%
I Am Heath Ledger74%
Obi-Wan Kenobi: A Jedi's Return67%
As I Was Moving Ahead, Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty77%
Seduced and Abandoned62%
Maria by Callas73%
Love, Antosha74%
McQueen74%
Anna Nicole Smith: You Don't Know Me60%
One Last Adventure: The Making of Stranger Things 573%
Public Speaking70%
