Kostiantyn Stepankov Jr.

A family drama about life of a few children in Ukraine during thirties.

Trofim Bessarab has been working as a house painter for all his life. He is a pensioner now and it seems that he can let himself have a rest. But idleness is not for Trofim. His nature is to be a working man and he looks for the way to apply his irrepressible energy, he possesses despite his age.

The new reality changes the usual life in the village of Babylon. Attempts to communize the small town are met with resistance from the rich people living in the town. The Red Army finally puts down the resistance. Amidst the resistance philosopher Fabian returns to Babylon and tries to prevent bloodshed, but he meets a tragic fate.

Olya, a second-grader, chose Genka Ogonkov, a difficult teenager, as her counselor, and decided to reform him. She did it well — the orphan Genka turned out to be a good and kind boy.

1920. Russian Civil War. Operation of GubCheka (Soviet police) to destroy one of the bands in Ukraine.

The film is a poetic adaptation of a series of stories (oral and written) about Princess Olha of Kyivan Rus' (Ukraine-Rusʹ) at the start of the 11th century. Inspired by chronicles and folk legends this is a story of a common girl Olha who married Prince Ihor and became his successor on the throne after his murder and one of the most remarkable political leaders in early medieval European history. She converted to Christianity and brought her realm into Europe.

In the XIth century Kyivan Rus' (Ukraine-Rus') reached its zenith under the reign of Yaroslav. He established enduring ties with many of the ruling European dynasties, strengthened the borders of Rus' and tried to free it from the influence of the Byzantine Empire. Since 988 the church of Rus' had been autonomous, apart from the right of Constantinople to appoint the Metropolitan.

The protagonists of the film meet at the Republican Agricultural Exhibition of Advanced Practices in Kyiv. Among them is Pavel Zarechny, a talented plant breeder, passionately devoted to his work, and Timofey Khizhnyak, the director of a scientific testing station, for whom personal gain is the ultimate goal in life. Also present are Dasha, Zarechny’s lab assistant, who becomes his love, and Dyachenko, a fellow scientist whose envy of Pavel’s success leads him to forget about decency and honor...

Civil war. Residents of the Ukrainian village of Ostapovka decide to take a neutral position and wait out the war. But not everyone agrees with this point of view on current events. Young people unite and join the ranks of the fighters of the revolution...

A priest from a Carpathian village who sheltered an orphan teenager, Bogdan Chichura, sends him to a theological seminary. After graduating from the seminary with honors, the young man enters the Gregorian University, becomes a doctor of theology and returns to his village. Here he learns that his beloved Ruzhena, deceived by the bishop's letter, has gone to a monastery. And her father, a Rusyn, is being persecuted by the authorities and the church for his leftist beliefs. Bogdan embarks on a difficult struggle for the honor of his loved ones. But the Second World War begins.

How people knew how to love and cherish their love.

The Odesa boys, Petya Bachey and Gavrik Chernoivanenko, are brave and resourceful, finding themselves at the centre of early 20th-century events leading to the October Revolution. They are joined by adult characters like sailor Rodion Zhukov, Petya’s father Vasily, Madame Storozhenko, and Gavrik’s grandfather. As they grow, they experience the revolution, civil war, and become underground fighters during WWII in occupied Odesa.