This film tells the stories of several people connected by the tragedy in Bucha, which took place during the Russian occupation near Kyiv in 2022. We find them at the point where the first "dust" of the drama unfolding before the eyes of the world has already settled. But is the terrible thing in their lives really over?

In our postmodern era, we think more in impressions. At the same time, we rely on images and symbols created by mythology and sung in works of art. Let's talk about this, going to the northern cloister of Orthodoxy, the Solovetsky Monastery.

Aglaya's father left the family when she was twelve. 28 years later, his daughter invites him on a trip to Georgia to learn together about the origins of their family. Everyone keeps their own audio travel diary to get to know not only their roots, but also each other.

When Gavrilushka reached the age of one year and three months, his mother was astonished to observe his ability to play the piano. The toddler confidently executed a few chords with his left hand and even began to produce a melody with his right. Every day Gavriil Shcherbenko played more and more and better. Videos capturing the young prodigy's performances started circulating globally, leading to comparisons with legendary figures such as Mozart, Richter, and Beethoven. Gavrilushka has collected a diverse fan base, comprising individuals fluent in various languages, all captivated by his musical talent. Remarkably, while his fans comprehend his playing effortlessly, the young boy himself has yet to utter his first words. Gabriel Shcherbenko's parents view this journey as a remarkable adventure, uncertain whether their child will eventually cease playing or, conversely, embark on a path of professional musical education.

A mother comes to see her son, Lieutenant Vitaly Golub, at the graduation of the Rokossovsky DVOKU military school. None of them knows that this meeting may be their last.

A year before the war, Russia experienced a wave of mass protests triggered by the arrest of Alexei Navalny, a politician detained upon his return to Russia after an assassination attempt by FSB agents. Protesters and allies of Navalny fell under the weight of repression. Over 180 people from various parts of the country faced criminal prosecution, many organizations were forced to shut down, and a wave of political emigration began. The domestic repression served as a foundation for the onset of a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, suppressing the voices of those who could have spoken out against it. OVD-Info tells the stories of the participants in the Palace Case, the most massive politically motivated criminal campaign in Russia before the war. We produced a documentary about five individuals: IT developer Alexander Federyakov, student Anastasia Ponkina, university teacher Victoria Novikova, taxi driver Valery Evsin, and blogger Vladimir Egorov. Political scientist Ekaterina Shulman and lawyer Mikhail Biryukov provide commentary. We made this film to draw attention to all political prisoners in Russia and to show how people who found the courage to protest are living.

In Russia, even milkmaids are now being labeled as foreign agents! What led the country to disapprove of the ordinary villager Elena Agafonova? Whom does she work for? And what is the reason behind the widespread fear of her in the entire Tula region? We visited the village of Partizan in the Uzlovsky district and spent several days with Lena to gain insight into her life.

Letnyaya Zolotitsa is a village situated along the shores of the White Sea, approximately 180 kilometers from Arkhangelsk. During winter, access to the village is limited to snowmobiles or, alternatively, by air using an old An-2 aircraft. Ilya Ikonnikov, the head of the Letnyaya Zolotitsa landing site, assumes multiple roles, serving as an air traffic controller, airfield watchman, cashier, loader, and stoker—all in one. He travels to the village from his hometown of Onega as part of his duty. Ikonnikov, a former journalist and poet, finds less recognition and congratulations in his aviation work than the personalized epitaphs he crafts. However, he considers the "An-2 service" a calling passed down from his grandfather and father. The village, with fewer than 200 residents, experiences an influx of seasonal inhabitants during the summer. Most employment opportunities are in public organizations such as the post office, school, and administration, offering modest salaries. The Pomors, traditionally engaged in fishing, often find themselves unintentionally engaging in poaching due to challenging bureaucratic regulations. Letnyaya Zolotitsa lacks mobile communication and has limited internet access, but central television is readily available. Conversations often revolve around the war in Ukraine, and patriotism is taught in special lessons at the local school. While Ikonnikov opposes the war, his stance is somewhat of an exception in the village.

Almost a detective story of the film's author's escape from Russia.

Russian media frequently highlights pardoned prisoners, emphasizing how they "atoned for their crime with blood." Surprisingly, now even orphans are being presented with a similar proposition involving shedding blood. These youngsters, who often have vague memories of their parents and lack significant adult guidance, might be even more vulnerable than prisoners. Authorities urge them, saying, "Go for six months. There will be a salary ohow can they decline? They are not afraid of encountering violence: life in an orphanage is full of it, it is familiar. This film serves as another endeavor to explore the reasons behind Russians' willingness to take up arms. This film is part of the documentary project «The Assignment» made by Novaya Gazeta journalists who remain in Russia and continue to work under war censorship and risks. Film editor – Kirill Sakharnov.

Dmytro Bahnenko, a journalist in Kherson, southern Ukraine, spent three months secretly recording his city’s resistance to the Russian occupation. In an extraordinary film for BBC Eye, Dmytro chronicles the harsh reality of life under Russian control, as food and medicines become scarce, people flee and others disappear. Dmytro and his wife Lidia struggle to shelter their five-year-old daughter Ksusha from the war as she increasingly senses the danger around her. “I don’t want them to shoot bombs at me,” she says. After a close relative is threatened by the Russian military, the family makes a difficult decision to try to escape.

The Talab Islands, situated approximately 25 kilometers from the Estonian border and equidistant from Pskov, comprise three islands. Two of these, formerly known as Talabsk and Verkhniy, were renamed Zalit and Belov during the Soviet era to honor Red Army soldiers who tragically drowned in 1918 while attempting to establish Soviet power on the islands. In the past, Zalit was home to a thriving fishing collective farm, attracting local residents who had been engaging in lake-related activities for decades. However, contemporary bureaucratic challenges have hindered fishing activities, leading to a shift in the islands' economic focus towards tourism. Pilgrims now frequent the islands to visit the grave of Nikolai Guryanov, the former rector of the local church. Despite the islands' historical significance and tourism potential, they face challenges in terms of infrastructure and services. A paramedic provides medical assistance, and there is a primary school, but children typically move to the mainland for further education after completing their initial studies on the islands.

"Pentagons" is the name given to a semi-dilapidated house in Novouzensk, Saratov region, lacking heating and sanitation. For six months, Andrejs Lošaks and his filming crew observed people who "survive rather than live." The documentary series "Pentagons" portrays the poorest inhabitants of Russia, individuals who have entered an unspoken agreement with the state: you don't interfere with us, and we won't interfere with you. But then, the war began...

Minsk, Belarus, August 9, 2020, presidential election day. The day of the start of the most massive protests in the history of the country. There are two people in the square. They could have been good neighbors or acquaintances, but they found themselves opposite each other, in the role of victim and aggressor. It seemed like they couldn't do anything. But both proved that this is not so. That there is a path between desperate feat and inhuman indifference.

People with disabilities... In the United Arab Emirates, they are referred to as "people of determination." In the United States and Europe, they are described as individuals with increased needs. However, in Russia, they often face limited opportunities. Yet, "disability" does not define Katya Sukhinina, who daily demonstrates to the world that a wheelchair is not a life sentence. Life doesn't come to a halt when a person loses the ability to walk.

In Russia, it’s been dangerous for ordinary people to speak up against Vladimir Putin’s regime for years, but new censorship laws introduced since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 have made it tougher than ever. Despite huge risks, Russian filmmakers have been filming the impact of the war inside their country. Whilst many thousands have fled, those that stayed are having to choose - to oppose, support or stay silent about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The film crew travels on a train in a reserved seat across Russia, talking with passengers about the war. The main characters are guys of military age, ordinary Russians, without savings and the opportunity to leave the country. They are against war and are not afraid to talk about it and, moreover, they are not afraid to fight for their rights even where it seems that this is impossible. Bad and good Russians. Who are they and what do they look like? Did all the good people really leave Russia, or is there still someone left there?

An experimental documentary film that delves into the intricate facets of the issue of human dignity humiliation in Russia. The directors provide audiences with an unconventional perspective on situations where individuals are compelled to issue on-camera apologies for their words or actions. Through this experimental narrative approach, viewers will witness how it has become commonplace in modern Russia to extract apologies on camera. Some instances will evoke genuine sympathy as people grapple with public scrutiny. Simultaneously, other scenes will unveil the darker side of this trend, where apologies devolve into mere puppetry, extracted under the threat of personal and professional repercussions. The film incorporates a range of videos capturing moments of sincere apologies driven by a genuine acknowledgment of one's mistakes.

Shot in Kyiv, Bucha and Gostomel in May 2022, the film shows eyewitnesses of the beginning of the full-scale invasion and the following Russian occupation. The protagonists share their impressions of those days and their thoughts about the present and future.

In September 2022, when mobilization was announced in Russia, residents of the Chukotka village of Egvekinot Maxim Teyunaut and Sergei Nechaev decided to escape so that they would not be sent to war in Ukraine. The closest place where you could escape on a small fishing boat was St. Lawrence Island, which belongs to the state of Alaska. In the USA, Teyunaut and Nechaev asked for political asylum. They spent three months in a migration prison. Baptist church pastor Roman Mitin, who comes from a Ukrainian family of Baptists who were persecuted for their faith in Soviet times, vouched for them. In the nineties they emigrated to the USA.

The Semipalatinsk testing site is a terrifying place that has served as a place for the most horrific weapons of mass destruction ever devised by humanity - nuclear bombs - for a consecutive 40-year period. The Soviet Union's leading scientists and researchers conducted extensive studies on the impact of nuclear weapons on urban areas. They constructed simulated towns, complete with real buildings and even metro stations, to observe and assess the aftermath. These dedicated researchers identified the zones where immediate death would occur, areas where survival was possible but would result in blindness, and regions where individuals would live, but their offspring would suffer from mutations for years to come. They conducted experiments and meticulously analyzed the outcomes, and yet, judging by its current state, it appears as though the entire project was abandoned without a care. However, the film will introduce to you the individuals who will forever remember every moment of those times. They witnessed these nuclear explosions with their own eyes and paid the price for their health for these experiments that were meant to teach us crucial lessons.