Russian
see all genres ›Alert to film's value as both art and propaganda from early on, the Soviet Union oversaw one of the great cinematic industries in the world during the silent era, turning out narrative and documentary features influential around the world. The Stalinist era's derogatory effect on expression eroded that stature until a new wave of talent proclaimed itself during a Cold War "thaw" from the late 1950s onward. Today's Russian filmmakers mix older high-art traditions with brashly commercial new ones.
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Genres / International / Eurasian / Russian
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The Prodigy
Olga Smirnova's talent and drive are taking her to new heights in the ultra-competitive arena of world-class ballet at the Bolshoi in Moscow. This film shows what that extreme sacrifice looks like behind the curtain, through images and the words of Olga and her demanding, but sensitive coach, who...Watch Movie
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100 Days Before the Command
Five young Red Army recruits struggle for survival against the merciless violence that surrounds them on a daily basis. Their only means of saving their dignity is by preserving the humanity and compassion they share for each other. Visually astonishing, erotically charged and...Watch Movie
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The Mirror
Andrei Tarkovsky, the acclaimed master of Soviet cinema, takes a moving and personal turn with this striking meditation on life in Russia during the bleak days of WWII. THE MIRROR is not just the display of a film director at the peak of his unique powers. As an homage to the innocence of...Watch Movie
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Happy People
With HAPPY PEOPLE: A YEAR IN THE TAIGA, Werner Herzog takes viewers on yet another unforgettable journey into remote and extreme natural landscapes. The acclaimed filmmaker presents this visually stunning documentary about the people living in the heart of the Siberian Taiga. Deep in the...Watch Movie
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Blockade
The longest siege during World War II was that of Leningrad, which lasted for 900 days, from September 1941 to January 1944, when Hitler attempted to starve the Soviet city of three million people into submission. Estimates of the number of residents who died from starvation, disease or cold...Watch Movie
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The Island
Somewhere in Northern Russia in a small Russian Orthodox monastery lives a very unusual man. His fellow-monks are confused by his bizarre conduct. Those who visit the island believe that the man has the power to heal, exorcise demons and foretell the future. However, he considers himself unworthy...Watch Movie
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Faust
From acclaimed director Alexander Sokurov, FAUST is an hallucinatory period piece set in the early 19th century and inspired by Goethe's famous play. Employing elaborate camera movements, a layered soundscape, intricate production design and spectacular locations, FAUST conjures a unique and...Watch Movie
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The Dry Valley
DRY VALLEY is the first full feature film by Alexandra Strelyanaya. The film is based on the famous novel written by Nobel Prize laureate Ivan Bunin. This story unites the destinies of the landowners and their servants, and is considered to be one of the most complete portraits of the Russian...Watch Movie
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Nostalghia
NOSTALGHIA is Andrei Tarkovsky's brooding late masterpiece, a darkly poetic vision of exile. It was the first of his features to be made outside of Russia, the home to which he would never return. Tarkovsky explained that in Russian the word "nostalghia" conveys "the love for your homeland and...Watch Movie
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The Rape of Europa
THE RAPE OF EUROPA is an epic journey through seven countries, into the violent whirlwind of fanaticism, greed, and warfare that threatened to wipe out the artistic heritage of Europe. For twelve long years, the Nazis looted and destroyed art on a scale unprecedented in...Watch Movie
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Captive
Two Russian soldiers, the seasoned and laconic Rubakhin and the cheerful and frivolous rifleman Vovka, walk over the mountains and through the gorges of Chechnya searching for a guide to lead their convoy out of an ambush. Only a local who knows the trails can do it, but the locals are enemies,...Watch Movie
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The Art of Observing Life
In the wonderful ART OF OBSERVING LIFE, renowned documentarian Marina Goldovskaya provides a master class in Cinéma vérité and an appreciation of the filmmakers who transformed the Documentary. Filmed mostly in Goldovskaya’s home in Los Angeles over an extended period of time,...Watch Movie
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What Happened Here?
WHAT HAPPENED HERE is a personal essay and a "road movie" seeking the site of Leon Trotsky's birth and home town, virtually unknown today due to Joseph Stalin's attempt to erase him from Soviet history. It follows the trail to the Golan Heights of Israel where Mikhael...Watch Movie
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Hipsters
Moscow 1955. Stalin has been dead two years, but not even Khrushchev's thaw can prevent Komsomol shock troops from hounding hipsters (stilyagi), fans of American jazz, culture and fashion. The student Mels, a Komsomol member, meets Polya, a hipster, while conducting a raid on a hipster hangout....Watch Movie
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Pinhas
Pinhas and his mother are new immigrants from Russia. While his mother barely makes a living working night shifts, she devotes her spare time to the affair she has with a married man. On the third floor lives a religious family, and Pinhas is drawn to their warmth and unity. There he meets a girl...Watch Movie
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Stolen Art
In New York City in 1978, an unknown Czech artist by the name of Pavel Novak held an exhibit at WX Gallery entitled "Stolen Art," which featured paintings by Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, Gustave Courbet, Vincent van Gogh and other great masters, all reproduced with astonishing accuracy by...Watch Movie
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The 3 Rooms of Melancholia
This award-winning, stunningly beautiful documentary reveals how the Chechen War has psychologically affected children in Russia and in Chechnya. Divided into three episodes or 'rooms,' the film is characterized by an elegantly paced observational style, which uses little...Watch Movie
