When does your childhood go away? It goes away when instead of playing football with other kids you sit down and silently contemplate the river. When your thoughts don’t let you sleep, and a lightning bug beats in a pot like a heart. When poems come into your mind and you feel you really need to sing. It goes away when you suddenly realize: this summer is going away and it is the last summer of your childhood.
This is a collection of portraits: 23 short stories about the Mari women, a sort of Decameron suspended between magic and realism, in which the Autonomous more
This is a collection of portraits: 23 short stories about the Mari women, a sort of Decameron suspended between magic and realism, in which the Autonomous Republic of the Marij El serves as a backdrop for the collective history of a people of ancient tradition. A journey into a mysterious and unknown part of the world. close
Soviet Georgia, 1983. Preparations for Nika and Ana's wedding are in full swing and it's a big day for both of their elite families. For the newlyweds more
Soviet Georgia, 1983. Preparations for Nika and Ana's wedding are in full swing and it's a big day for both of their elite families. For the newlyweds and their friends, however, the celebrations are in fact part of a cover-up, as they plot an audacious escape from the Soviet Union. close
Lena is a bright, disabled girl who, after years spent studying at home, is keen to get back to school. She is assigned to a special class for disabled more
Lena is a bright, disabled girl who, after years spent studying at home, is keen to get back to school. She is assigned to a special class for disabled pupils who have to present themselves before a school commission at the end of the year in order to prove that they merit being moved back into a "normal" class. Her enervated teachers, however, show absolutely no desire to motivate the students and help them improve; on the contrary, they try to quash right from the start any interest Lena shows in more complex study material. Nevertheless, Lena soon involves herself in the school routine and gets together with classmate Anton. Yet their transparent happiness is not to everyone's liking and repercussions soon follow. close
Summer. During the admission to the acting school, Lisa gets acquainted with one of the entrants and leads him to the sculpture workshop of her father, more
Summer. During the admission to the acting school, Lisa gets acquainted with one of the entrants and leads him to the sculpture workshop of her father, where they spend several days together. In a closed space, their relationship becomes a game. Without borders, without time, without skin. An intimate depiction of a passionate, and sometimes violent, relationship between two young actors at an acting school in St Petersburg. close
It is a story about the Soviet worker Pyotr and the German engineer Hans, who came to the USSR before the war on a business trip. At a Soviet plant the more
It is a story about the Soviet worker Pyotr and the German engineer Hans, who came to the USSR before the war on a business trip. At a Soviet plant the German team works in cooperation with Russian specialists. Once Hans makes a mistake which causes the explosion of the furnace and human losses. Hans finds himself at the mercy of Pyotr, the only witness to his actions near the furnace. Pyotr also depends on Hans, because Pyotr’s very presence near the furnace entails accusation of subversive actions and a death sentence. Mutual suspicion gives way to silent sympathy and later friendship. They even look like each other, both have small children. Pyotr secretly leaves the town with his family but Hans feels loss rather that relief at the disappearance of the embarrassing witness. close