432 Hz — the tuning frequency of old instruments, believed to resonate in harmony with the universe, to heal, to reflect the pure mathematical essence of nature. It is also the frequency of the soul of Tanya, the film’s delicate and extraordinary protagonist. Several years ago, unexpectedly even to herself, she began collecting and restoring antique pump organs — eventually opening Russia’s first harmonium museum in the very house where she spent a difficult childhood. Her concerts leave audiences transformed, their faces changed, as the breath of these instruments awakens emotions they have never felt before. Tanya says it is because old instruments are tuned differently; their vibrations touch the mind and soul in another way — a clarifying one. Always in motion, Tanya teaches at a music school, performs harmonium concerts in the local history museum, and appears at music festivals. She also sells souvenirs at the town market, which helps her restore the museum’s instruments. The market is a parallel universe — a Bosch-like world filled with remarkable characters, a place Tanya loves deeply. For her, that is where life unfolds, and music brings harmony to the chaos of existence.*

Holidays. The train is travelling from Saint Petersburg to Belgorod. But I'm getting off in Kursk. My grandfather's widow, Anna Ilyinichna, lives here — she is practically my grandmother. Her granddaughter Sasha and great-granddaughter Pelageya live here too. In August 2024, they had to leave their village homes - war came to the Kursk borderlands. My grandmother's house in the village of Kobylyki is intact - she is waiting for changes on the front and a free kettle from the village council. Sasha and Pelageya's house in Sudzha is no longer there. They are waiting. Without knowing what for. They wait and do not lose heart, somewhere between worlds.

Seven women of different ages fled the war with their children from various regions of Ukraine. In one of the refugee camps in Thuringia, they meet a Russian woman-journalist who escaped from Moscow for political reasons. Is it possible to find common ground for people from two warring countries who meet in the same living space?

Lizavetka writes songs and sings them from her balcony, watching the endless stream of cars below. Her personal tragedies turn into music, shaped by self-irony and humor. What does it mean to sing when no one is waiting? How do you stay true to yourself when producers, audiences, and life itself demand different things? Balancing art and everyday life, Liza teaches children music while continuing to create her own songs. For her, performing is more than work — it’s a way to endure, to transform pain, and to remain whole.

Documentary footage set to music by Richard Wagner.

Alena turned 40. Behind her are 15 years of an unsuccessful music career, ahead is a whole life. And what is there today? After many years of loneliness - a new relationship, rented accommodation and a son. And dreams that perhaps soon she will be lucky in music.

Only 7% of Kalmykia’s population has access to clean drinking water. It is the most arid region of Russia. But Badma, a local herder, does not fight against nature — he lives in harmony with it. Following Buddhist practices and the traditions of his nomadic people, he aligns his daily life with the rhythms of the steppe and preserves a sense of resilience where it seems impossible to find.

A documentary story about teenagers from Russia experiencing the peak of their youth in exile. Alcohol, parties, bullying, first love, and wandering the streets of Tbilisi. At the center of the director’s camera is the friendship between Russian and Georgian classmates.

SIDELINED is a documentary about a three-month journey through Russia in the end of 2021, exploring the tension between different lines of truth in this controversial country and gaining insights into the contrasting attitudes and debates of the eight interviewees. The focus lies on the feeling of a parallel existence of different truths, of past greatness and coping with everyday life, of USSR nostalgia and autocratic dystopia, of pride and fear. The aim is to show which stories prevail in this nation, and which ones get marginalized. In doing so, the film focuses strongly on the subjective perspectives and experiences of people on the ground.

Volny Chor (meaning Free Choir) is now the most prominent cultural symbol of the Belarusian protest movement. Founded in the summer of 2020 during mass demonstrations against election fraud and police violence, the choir performed in supermarkets, subways, and at protests – always masked to protect themselves from repression. Dozens of members were arrested, and the choir was forced into exile. But even abroad, Volny Chor continues to sing – as an artistic expression of resistance and a symbol of hope. Volny Chor transforms protest into music and exile into resistance. Running parallel to the choir’s story is the tragic fate of performance artist Ales Pushkin, who died in prison for his art. No other Belarusian artist challenged the regime so openly and radically. His performances and paintings made him a symbol of artistic resistance. In prison, he suffered from the same illness as Maria Kalesnikava: a perforated stomach ulcer. In July 2023, Pushkin died in Belarusian custody – following mistreatment and a lack of medical care. VOLNY CHOR is both a political chronicle and an emotional journey through five years of Belarusian history. The film portrays art as memory, music as a weapon – and exile as a new form of community. This is not just a film about Belarus – it is a universal story about the courage of art and the price of hope.

The film tells the story of the Volga village Krasnovidovo, a place marked by the presence of Empress Catherine II, the great writer Maxim Gorky, and the first cosmonaut in history, Yuri Gagarin.

Anna Nenkor is a successful artist whose paintings are sold worldwide, yet she was once a child raised in an orphanage in a small provincial town. Twenty years later, she returns to her former school to gift the children a mural illustrating a fairy tale—and, most importantly, to instill faith and hope for the future. Through her own example, Anna shows the children that it is possible to achieve success, even if you come from “the system.”

The twentieth year of Yegor Yegorov’s life is full of contrasts: from the carefree life of a musician to a devotion to traditional Russian values. But how does one find balance without losing oneself?

Nastya was not afraid of pain or death and decided to live fully until the end. We came to bring her creative ideas to life.

Irina lives in Siberia with her husband, son and mother with dementia. How does she manage to stay happy day in day out? What kind of personality is needed to still enjoy life despite the hardships of modern reality?

The film explores the lives of orphanage graduates who face reality alone, as well as those who help them survive, stay true to themselves, and build a future. Through personal stories, it constructs a multilayered portrait of growing up, social hardships, and the power of support.

In Soviet times, Chechen Island was a prosperous fishing collective farm — a “millionaire kolkhoz,” as locals recall. “There was everything here”: a ferry operated regularly, planes landed, and around 1,000 people lived on the island year-round. Today, fewer than 50 remain. The island did not survive the 1990s, and for the past 30 years it has been slowly falling apart. Ruins of a House of Culture resembling an ancient temple with columns, a post-apocalyptic landscape, and time seemingly frozen in the late 1980s. In this state of suspension — without internet, electricity, or a connection to the mainland — people still live here. Almost all of them consider themselves patriots. Filmmaker Vladimir Sevrinovsky spent the long May 9th weekend on the island. This film is the result.

Sergey, Natasha, and Lena live in the Siberian taiga on an abandoned recreation base. They are building “Ark 2” — a community where there will be no war, lies, or theft. Yet their spiritual mentor, who has proclaimed himself an apostle, lives in Moscow and cannot always be reached. The silence of the endless taiga leaves each resident alone with their thoughts.

What are relationships at 81+? What matters most — hugs, a sack of potatoes, a kind word, or simply having someone to spend New Year’s with? A road movie with Mitka Kozlov as he visits his friends, searching for the answer.

Twelve-year-old Aglaya dreams of making a film based on her own novel about the magical land of Kolhandra. During summer holidays in the countryside, she gathers the local children and turns them into an amateur film crew. Together they search for locations, invent costumes, and step into their roles. But soon Aglaya realizes that bringing a fairy tale to life is far more difficult than simply imagining it.

The Yarovoy family lives side by side with six brown bears, having turned their home into a unique space where wild animals and humans coexist in a fragile balance of trust and love. This is a story of devotion to a chosen path that has become a way of life. The bears are not just wards — they are full-fledged members of the family, each with a distinct personality, story, and destiny.

Delivery service employees rush to deliver orders on time and discuss their failures in the work chat.

The story of Laika, the first dog to travel into space. The film, dedicated to her 1957 flight aboard "Sputnik-2", captures the atmosphere of the Cold War and the tense space race between the Soviet Union and the United States. Combining rare archival footage with AI-generated recreations, the film offers a look at this pivotal moment in history—not only as a scientific achievement but also as a profoundly human story of sacrifice, ambition, and moral complexity. "Laika Will Never Return to Earth" invites viewers to reflect on the cost of progress and the forgotten lives behind monumental achievements.

Three regulars search for love through conversations with a dog.

In a house in southern Russia, two sisters, their mother, and their grandmother gather each summer, creating a vibrant, matriarchal world. The father is there too, but he's barely seen. Men in this women's realm are like passing trains. Amidst endless baby cries, lullabies, fortune-telling, and sauna rituals, the film flows quietly and imperceptibly — from birth to death, creating a portrait of a family whose connection transcends the visible world. Daughters unknowingly follow the paths of their mothers, repeating the cycles of those who came before them. Breaking these deeply ingrained generational patterns seems almost unimaginable.

The documentary film tells the story of Andrey, who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, and his wife Angela, who left her job to care for him. The film depicts their daily life, the challenges they face, and how they strive to cope with the disease.

The contributors to this film anthology document the flow of time at the turn of 2024 and 2025 in a wide range of cities across Russia, as well as in Kazakhstan, Georgia, Indonesia, and New Zealand. What connects gardens and literary studies? A chair in Kotelniki and a sled on a green lawn in Auckland? Strange black figures by a tree in Pushkin and a white animal by a quiet backwater in the village of Latnoye? Factory steam in St. Petersburg and pigeons in Anapa? Fireworks in Murmansk, the “I Promise” action in Khabarovsk, and the movement of water in the village of Vyazovoye? Each episode follows the next and is edited in strict chronological order — within a kind of shared, unified time, regardless of time zones. And in the space created by this connection, in a completely wondrous and uncontrollable way, an unexpected link emerges between one point in the world and another. Cinema edits itself, forming a single fabric of time and state.

To get acquainted with her deceased dad, whom she never met, a filmmaker follows the traces of him in her mother’s memories and the artifacts that are left behind. Along the way, she writes letters to her father—letters that cannot be sent.

A documentary portrait film tells the story of 25-year-old Vlad, who eagerly immerses himself in the world of castings, advertising shoots, and blogger collaborations in pursuit of his dream. However, his father seems to still live in a reality where "a normal job" is measured solely by the number of shifts worked and has nothing to do with "acting up in front of the camera." Will Vlad be able to prove the value of his "invisible" work, or will his dream be crushed by the weight of his parent's "get a real job" advice?

“I’ve fought enough,” says Levan, a Georgian man who, in 2008, worked with foreign journalists during the Russo-Georgian war. Years later, the memories are still with him — in old tapes, in silence, in familiar landscapes.

"Held" is a story of returning. Through honest conversations, friend gatherings, and small everyday moments, the film explores his attempt to find peace with the past — and with a war that never quite ended.

Animation: Aleksandra Kulikova

What these people saw with their own eyes will never be forgotten. A horrific railway disaster forever changed the fates not only of those traveling on the ill-fated train but also of those who dealt with its aftermath. How do you go on when you’ve lost everything? What did these people endure? What was that fateful day like? And how do you speak when every word reverberates with pain?

A montage film about Soviet holiday rituals, constructed from randomly found family footage. The scenes of everyday life, captured on aged 8mm film, flicker, crack, and disintegrate before our eyes. The film’s soundscape is filled with radio static, voices, and industrial noises from homemade synthesizers.

The film is based on an interview with my father, spontaneously conducted at Newark Airport in the summer of 2022 on our way home to Mexico. During that visit, he unexpectedly showed me his family album, which I had never seen: his childhood photos from birth, growing up, military service, pictures of beloved friends, relatives, children, grandchildren… moves, meetings, separations. That summer, my father was 86, and he had lived through much. For the first time, he shared his story with me. His memories reminded me of the fragility of life and the importance of closeness.

The essence of restoration is the recovery of what has been lost. In the film, the author — who is also the main character — tries to rebuild his relationship with his grandfather, with whom he did not speak for three years after a conflict. Through filmmaking, he attempts to understand this close relative and to restore the family by reconnecting three generations: son, father, and grandfather.

In 2022 the filmmaker follows the migrational route of his relatives from Germany to Tajikistan. In the capital Dushanbe he meets a group of people around the Bactria Cultural Youth Center, with whom he revisits the memories of his relatives, who fled from the Civil War in the 1990s. A small community of friends takes shape through the shared love of music and the common wish to create something together. By turning the city into temporary spaces of collective actions they question national identities, gender roles and embark on a search for their personal freedoms.

Protagonists: Abdurahim, Angelina, Anush, Aziz, Bezhan, Dina, Dinorah, Ilkhom, Ismail, Ismoil, Kamila, Kristina, Mark, Masud, Mongol, Nafisa, Roma, Samir, Sherzod, Shohin, Shohina, Shuhrat, Takmina, Yulia, Zhenya
Editing: Danila Lipatov, Karen Zimmermann
Sound recording: Ismoil Qodirov, Rustam Sharipov
Sound mix: Simon Bastian, Zeigermann_Audio GmbH
Sound design: Giacomo Goldbecker

A story of three Russian women who, for different reasons, moved to Abkhazia — a journey of protest, escape, and self-discovery in a phantom land.

The film tells the story of Boris Uzelevsky, a homeless literary scholar who believes his article on Bulgakov is a great discovery. However, in his view, the literary community ignores it, and for now, he survives on a meager pension and spends nights at train stations. Will Boris find resonance in the eyes of the public, and will he manage to change his life?

In Firework, fragments of a city's unrest — fireworks, protests, distant sirens — are transformed into a live sonic sculpture. The film documents an improvised performance where modular synthesis and real-time urban sounds collide, revealing moments of tension, beauty, and fragility.

The special military operation has been ongoing for three years. Saint Petersburg remains a calm and peaceful city, untouched by the conflict. The city has become a stronghold that stands in tranquility. But how do people respond to today’s reality?

This film is a collage of reality. Its soundscape is woven from events recorded on smartphones and posted publicly over the past two years. The visuals form a street chronicle of St. Petersburg during the same period. Through the editing of these spaces emerges a portrait of a country where history intertwines with everyday life, and individual voices merge into a collective chorus.

Three heroines are connected by palliative care in Kyrgyzstan. Their stories intertwine, illustrating how support is provided to terminally ill people, helping them live their remaining life with dignity.

In the small village of Staraya Kulatka lives Elvira, a librarian at the local House of Culture. Her life flows quietly and steadily: books, caring for her daughter, everyday routines. Yet behind this outward simplicity lies a complex path—years spent with a husband whose weaknesses tested her, patience for the sake of her child, a difficult decision about freedom—and, as an unexpected turn in this story, the sudden loss of her ex-husband. She is accustomed to keeping her emotions hidden, but the camera, gently intruding into her space, compels the film’s protagonist to discover new dimensions of her own story. This documentary explores the impact of cinematic observation on a person and demonstrates how being seen can transform one’s self-perception.