For seven years of work in Perm, Teodor Currentzis has become a real symbol of the region and turned the Diaghilev Festival into one of the most high-profile cultural forums in the country. The film is a fixation of the last two weeks of Currentzis' work in the Urals and an observation of how the Russian provinces, contemporary art and the cult of the conductor's personality coexist with each other.

The last week before the end of the summer in a tiny town on the Volga, the last week before friends leave until next year - to colleges, earnings, barracks. In Yuryevets, only Slava and her foster grandmother will remain from the company of 17-19-year-olds, although he is not exactly sure who she is. They say that she really is a stranger to him.

In 2017, Hakob Melkonyan, an Armenian filmmaker, received an extraordinary document: the war diary of his grandfather. Mobilized in 1942 in the Soviet army, Karapet Melkonyan had kept his diary for two years. Moved by the story of this adventure, Hakob decides to follow in his grandfather's footsteps and discover today’s reality in those territories. The War Diary is a road movie through four countries: Armenia, Georgia, Russia, and Ukraine. It confronts the history of the Second World War with today's reality in these former Soviet republics. Having become independent after the fall of the USSR, they are now torn apart by numerous deadly conflicts in Armenia, Georgia, and Ukraine. The War Diary is a very personal quest, but also sheds light on the geopolitical context of these countries that once fought side by side. Today, however, with the invasion of Ukraine, it has become an essential project.

Festivals

EBS International Documentary Festival EIDF (Seoul, 2023) - Official selection
Kosice Independent Film Festival (Slovakia, 2023) - Official selection
Festival International du Film D'histoire (France, 2023) - Official selection
Greece International Film Festival (Athens, 2023) - Honorable Mention

At the breakout of war, caught in the grip of a siege, the Donbass Opera and Ballet Theatre stubbornly prepares for a show: the Swan Lake. Under the bombs the personnel works without salary, food, heating but does not surrender. In the end the show will be staged and, even if just for one night, the world’s interests’ engine will have to stop, will have to wait, until the show will be over.

A film about children with cancer. And about their moms who stay in the hospital for as long as it takes, some two months, others two years. The oncology center is a home for both children and their parents. Here is a life that for many ends in death.

Masha dreams of becoming an actress and takes part in a new production of an inclusive theater. But stage fright, which causes her to stupor, jeopardizes the troupe's first international tour.

A film about a modern village.

The female employees of a geological research institute gather once a week for an English-language conversation club. These busy, adult women find this space to relax and chat with colleagues, even if not in their native language. The club’s host, also a geologist, is half the age of the participants and shares the viewer’s sense of wonder at both the women’s cheerfulness and the enduring imprint of Soviet times on their lives.

Leonid Leonov is a classic of Soviet literature of the "great style". Zakhar Prilepin is one of the brightest young writers of the new Russia. Prilepin has been engaged in the biography and work of Leonov for many years, in this film he talks about the turning points in the life of Leonid Maksimovich, trying to present all the facets of this personality.

What is said about corruption in the holy books, what should a believer do when faced with corruption, is the sin of a bribe-taker great and is it possible to atone for it? Orthodox priests, a mufti and a bishop of the Lutheran Church frankly and in detail tell the CEO of the anti-corruption organization Transparency International - Russia Ilya Shumanov and the founder of Cyber Fund Marina Guryeva about the attitude towards corruption among the confessions they represent.

A film about the life of the dacha village of the Soviet elite, who settled on the banks of the Moskva River in the 20-30s of the last century. The documentary play "Nikolina Gora" is a kind of continuation of the play by Chekhov "The Cherry Orchard" with real characters, representatives of Russian bohemia in the conditions of modern life. “Dacha, summer residents, it’s so vulgar,” said Ranevskaya in Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard, resisting the fragmentation of the latter into small plots. But progress is inexorable, and the old “cherry garden” had to be sold and cut down, and another life appears in place of the old dachas and the old way of life.

As a child, Adele left Russia for France with her mother, leaving the rest of the family behind. To shorten the distance, she began filming their conversations. When Adele learns that her cousin Sonya has cancer, the distance becomes insurmountable.

The film is about how old people and children are very similar and, for various reasons, see the world in the same way and believe in miracles. And each of these "children" needs love and attention. With this film, the car wants to evoke in the audience, without direct moralizing, a certain association from life, some kind of sympathy and care for their parents. After all, awakening from an inanimate and emotionless existence is extremely important at the present time.

The film describes the years of war hard times that swept through the Chechen Republic like a hurricane, turning it into a pile of stones, as well as the leader Akhmat-Khadji Kadyrov.

There is a lot of discussion about inclusivity these days—in writing, in films, and beyond. Often, these stories are told by people who are 'outside of inclusion.' We felt it would be fairer for our protagonist, Sergey Molochny, to tell his story himself.

A full-length documentary-feature film tells about the life and spiritual heritage of the Valaam elder Sheikhumen John (Alekseev). Many of his letters to spiritual children were distributed all over the world. The film includes over a hundred photographs. We will see not only the elder himself, his entourage, way of life, the life of the monks of Old and New Valaam, but also the precious chronicle of the era of the 1930-50s of the twentieth century.

The film tells about the folk theater in Moscow, which has existed for 65 years. What makes people engage in amateur performances, what difficulties do they have to face, and what do the Moscow authorities think of folk art?

In the puppet theater there is a concept of "live plan" when an actor plays a character without a puppet. In the era of director's theater, the boundaries between genres are blurred, a new synthetic theater is emerging, changing the usual idea of puppet theater. What is it, the puppet theater of the future and what awaits the guys outside the theater academy in the professional world?

The film "Freedom" is a pure motivation to create and live without boundaries that suppress the will. This is a movie about everyone, a movie that reflects the love of life and all life on the planet. The heroes of the film are young people who have gone beyond the limits and boundaries of social attitudes. They live their lives without losing their individuality, creating unique projects and benefiting the world.

Documentary about President Boris Yeltsin.