Shadows of Sin

A historic milestone in Russian cinema, recognized as the very first film adaptation of Fyodor Dostoevsky's famous 1869 novel.

This tragedy depicts a father and son in love with the same woman, who is an enchantress. She keeps them both in subjection with her charms, butthe mother and wife of the victims kills the seducer. However, both the father and the son are severely affected by her actions, which they cannot forgive.

Based on Lermontov's poem of the same name, Boyarin Orsha (Peter Chardynin) leaves the service of Ivan the Terrible.

Film adaptation of excerpts from Nikolai Gogol's novel of the same name. Only two episodes are recreated faithfully: Chichikov's visit to Sobakevich and Chichikov's visit to Plyushkin. These episodes are followed by a series of scenes in which other characters appear without any connection with the plot. In the finale, everyone is photographed next to the bust of Gogol.

A tragic story of a ballerina.

Paula is a circus performer married to the alcoholic clown-acrobat Lorio. Lorio's heavy drinking leads to him being severely injured during a performance. This forces Paula and the now-crippled Lorio to become street musicians. This film formerly ran to 81 minutes – regrettably, the second half is considered lost.

A female doctor is so busy with her work that she has too little time for her fiancé. He falls in love with a waitress and the two have a child. Though considered by some to be a proto-feminist yarn, the film dwells on the consequences that equal rights for women may generate rather than openly champion suffrage. Similar in to Ibsen's The Doll House in many ways, the film provides mannered, solemn melodrama, ably acted by Mosjoukine and Yureneva.

Based on Pushkin's short story: When his friends play faro, Germann always enjoys watching, but he never gambles himself. One day, as he is watching their game, he learns that an elderly countess staying nearby is said to possess a secret for winning a fortune at the game. Germann is determined to learn this secret from her, and he initiates a romance with her grand-daughter Liza, in order to improve his chances.

About a young pretty bride, who cannot choose between all the grooms that circles around her...

The old nunnery owns the best lands. Nuns rent out the land to local rich men, and exploiting peasants they have a wealthy life. The peasants live in misery. Especially, the family of the peasant named Levin. He is forced to give away his last horse, his son Andrii is imprisoned, his daughter Nastia becomes a maid of a rich landlord. Trying to prevent the master’s harassment, Nastia escapes and gets to the nunnery. She can see the other life of the nuns who manufacture false relics, drink alcohol and kill children. Nastia ends up in the basement for resisting one of the “spiritual pastors.” Meanwhile, her brother Andrii escapes from prison. He stirs up a rebellion and saves his sister. The film is lost.

Five-episode adaptation of the eponymous Russian novel, directed by Pyotr Chardynin et al.

It's the 17th century, when social antagonism is at its peak. The poverty of peasants and poor Cossacks is opposed to the lavish lifestyle of the Ukrainian and Polish noblemen, priests, and Cossack officers. Cossacks fight off Tatars’ attacks, however, they start to realise that the real enemy is much closer. Taras Triasylo raises Cossacks to help the rebellious peasants.

The film adaptation of Taras Shevchenko’s biography of 1925 is the first Ukrainian biopic. At that time, it was one of the most expensive films, as for the first time experts in history, ethnography, and literary studies were involved in pre-production. Consisting of numerous short stories, the film that shows the life of Shevchenko as an adolescent, a soldier, a poet, was successfully demonstrated in Ukraine and abroad and became the most acknowledged cinema project of 1926.