Mikhail Gorobchuk

Just as a tree cannot grow without roots, so a person cannot exist without traditions. "Guardians of Tradition" is a kaleidoscope of films woven from the unique customs of the peoples of Dagestan, who lovingly preserve the cultural and spiritual heritage of their ancestors and pass this knowledge on to the next generation.

Our house immerses into the silence of the night, is covered with long shadows, plays with occasional flashes of the warm flame of a kerosene lamp. Darkness for little Stesha turns out to be a tool for the discovery of another world, sometimes scary, sometimes fascinating. Fragments of vague memories, voices, flashes of light – the precious feelings of early childhood that remain with us forever.

Lolita is a bearer of two cultures, her mother is Russian, and her father is Azerbaijani. This is a subtle and piercing story about how a ten-year-old girl first travels to Azerbaijan to get acquainted with her father's parents. She wants to learn as much as possible about the traditions, culture and customs of her Azerbaijani relatives. Her first acquaintance with Azerbaijan is the subject of this documentary.

Travel the longest railway in the world. Stories and destinies of ordinary Russians who met by chance on the Moscow-Vladivostok train. A kaleidoscope of passengers' stories develops into a social portrait of modern Russian society, and the endless road turns into a metaphor of a country that is constantly moving somewhere.

During the Soviet era, there were over 30,000 Lenin monuments in the USSR. They were recommended to be erected in certain places where Ilyich could “see” how his precepts were being fulfilled. In turn, Lenin’s presence had a beneficial effect on the surrounding area. Temporary portals of sorts appeared near the monuments, leading to the communist future: flowerbeds were laid out, flags were placed, blue spruces were planted. What does Lenin see today? And what do these “islands of the future” look like now? How do the descendants of the builders of communism feel about Lenin? A film of 10 short stories, filmed in different parts of Russia.

An immersion into the intimacy of Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the USSR. The architect of perestroika and glasnost, who was praised in the West but reviled in his own country, still combative despite his advanced age, loneliness and illness, offers his personal and political testament.

My neighbor is an ordinary person. But after all, if you observe a person long enough, he ceases to be simple, ordinary. I filmed this film from the window of my apartment for several years. Filmed a neighbor and his beloved old car, to which he is endlessly attached. And in the end, unexpectedly, a movie turned out not about a specific person, but about life in general.

Little girl Stesha lives in a country house. She is isolated from the outside world and immersed in the world of games and fantasies. Her drawings reflect the inner world - the image of Paradise, which slips away as she grows up.