The first film about the Central Documentary Film Studio. In 1931, on the basis of the newsreel department at the Sovkino film factory, the All-Union newsreel factory Soyuzkinochronika was organized. In 1936 it became the Moscow Newsreel Studio, from the 40th it was renamed into the Central Newsreel Studio, from the 44th it became the Central Documentary Film Studio. The film tells about how the film chronicle was written. How a new documentary film language, unique for the whole world, was composed. What operators, directors and representatives of other film professions had to overcome. Acquaintance with the studio itself and the beginning of its history. Arctic epics by Mark Troyanovsky. His memoirs, descriptions of the problems of "shooting in the ice". And also "Lever" by Vertov.