Chechnya and the World

The Kuril Islands still remain a mystery to the rest of the world. The popular science film "Land of the People" rediscovers the unique territory of the Kuril Islands, with their unique human and natural wealth. Repeating the route of the first colonists, the viewer will get acquainted not only with the extraordinary beauty of this distant land, but also with the modern inhabitants of the islands, people of outstanding professions, somewhere adventurers, somewhere simply strong and strong in spirit, who live in places far from modern civilization, where there is neither the Internet, nor cellular communication, nor other items of everyday life most familiar to the continent.

The film is about a new generation of Russian football players. For three years, the authors of the picture watched the heroes' paths to big football: hopes and victories, difficult trials and injuries, inevitable disappointments and sacrifices – all for the sake of fulfilling a common dream of "being in the game" at the 2018 World Cup. The heroes of the film are Alexander Golovin, Roman Zobnin, Alexander Selikhov, Magomed Ozdoev, the Miranchuki brothers.

The Kuban choir "Elizavetintsy" consists entirely of amateurs—ordinary villagers. Teachers, doctors, farmers, and entrepreneurs—50 people in all. The choir is led by Alexander and Anna Kosaty. Their task is to prepare the ensemble to compete in an all-Russian contest in Moscow.

Eight of the strongest athletes from different parts of the world are fighting for a chance to get to Sochi.

Endowed with outstanding cinematography, and in-depth interviews with competitors, this documentary underlines the gender parity being achieved at an Olympic level. Women compete in ski jumping for the first time at the Winter Games, and Canada is seen beating the United States at the last gasp in the women's ice hockey final. Disciplines given prominence here include speed skating, figure skating, aerial skiing, curling, and the biathlon. Training is analysed as much as the competitions themselves. A suite of accidents and mishaps, and the consequent tears of frustration, remind us that the Olympics is not just about winning.

There are more than one hundred thousand graves in the central cemetery in Grozny. It has long been abandoned and turned into a forest. But among the thickets, rickety fences and monuments broken by shells, you can often meet the Chechen Saipuddin Guchigov. He believes that the souls of the dead are waiting for relatives and for many years he has been helping people from all over Russia find them.

Anastasia Rubleva has chosen a rare profession: she is an ethnographer. She is about to embark on an important expedition to the village where her great-grandmother once lived. The journey will not only provide valuable material for her research but also reconnect her with the folk culture of her Siberian ancestors. Through Anastasia's reflections, the film invites us to consider our own relationship with the culture we call our own.

For the first time, we decided to turn the camera around and make a film about filmmaking – to experience for ourselves what the subjects of our documentaries go through. For documentary filmmakers, who are usually more comfortable behind the camera, this is quite a challenge. The film follows our bumpy journey from setbacks on location to the final result – a screening in a cinema.