The Son

In recent years, Viktor Pelevin has been releasing a novel every year, each with a circulation of about 100 thousand copies - this is one of the best results in the country. At the same time, he has not given interviews for almost 20 years, does not appear in public and, according to rumors, does not live in Russia. Film director Rodion Chepel makes an attempt to combat hoaxes. To do this, he studied the archives, the early works of Viktor Pelevin and interviewed people who knew him.

In 1959, nine hikers had disappeared in Ural Mountains of Soviet Union. Even after 60 years, the mystery of their death remains unsolved. On February 2nd, 1959, nine hikers had disappeared in the Ural Mountains of Soviet Union. What the rescue mission saw was hard to believe: the tracks of barefoot prints were heading away from the cut open tent. During the period of several months the bodies had been located in 4 kilometers radius, some frozen to death wearing nothing but underwear or just one sock, others had their head or chest broken, eyes popped out or the tongue torn out. The mystery of Dyatlov group death remains unsolved for over 60 years. The official investigation hit the dead-end while dozens of private investigators and researchers around the world are proposing new versions of what had actually happened ranging from runaway prisoners’ attack to yeti involvement, from secret military tests to aliens. One of them is mountaineer and traveler Teodora Hadjiyska.

A portrait of Alexei Navalny (1976), the staunchest opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin, severely poisoned in 2020, arrested in 2021 and died on February 16, 2024 in a Siberian prison camp under unclear circumstances.

Last bastion of freedom of expression or playground for extremists and criminals? Opinions are divided on the messaging service Telegram. Just like on its mysterious founder, tech billionaire Pavel Durov. Is this man an uncompromising advocate of radical freedom or an accomplice of criminals of all kinds? Author Aleksandr Urzhanov searches for answers.

Igor S. Kon was a prominent Soviet and Russian sociologist, psychologist, and educator. He pioneered sex education in the USSR, worked extensively with teenagers and queer people, and supported those affected by the HIV epidemic. Despite living through times of repression and censorship, Igor S. Kon never gave up his scientific and educational work, and defended the ideas of individual freedom, equality, and tolerance until his final days.

Biography of Soviet/Russian dissident and liberal politician Valeriya Novodvorskaya, an attempt to rethink her heritage in the light of the historical events of recent years.

“Just One: The True Story of Patient Zero” tells the story of the person commonly referred to as “patient zero” — the first Soviet citizen diagnosed with HIV. The official history of the epidemic in the USSR begins with this 1987 case, a crisis that has since affected millions in Russia: those living with the virus and those who have died from AIDS. Yet almost nothing is known about this individual. The few existing facts have long dissolved into myths, propaganda, and misinformation. No photographs, no footage — nothing. The biography of “patient zero” had to be reconstructed from scratch, turning the film into a historical investigation.

Minsk, Belarus, August 9, 2020, presidential election day. The day of the start of the most massive protests in the history of the country. There are two people in the square. They could have been good neighbors or acquaintances, but they found themselves opposite each other, in the role of victim and aggressor. It seemed like they couldn't do anything. But both proved that this is not so. That there is a path between desperate feat and inhuman indifference.

Jews were called "the main secret of the Soviet Union." For seventy years they existed in the zone of silence, but this silence attracted a burning and constant interest. Some were sure that the Jews had penetrated everywhere, up to the top of the Soviet power, and ruled the entire USSR. Others looked for Jewish allusions in popular books, songs, films. Still others saw Jewish secret signs everywhere and everywhere. Where are the real facts, and where is the fruit of a sick imagination?

Investigation of the causes of death of Vladislav Listyev. 25 years passed, but the perpetrators of the highest-profile contract murder in Russia in the 1990s were not found. Or didn’t you want to? Or found, but silent? Rodion decided to conduct his investigation. He wants to know the name of the customer. Six months of work, dozens of interviews with colleagues, friends and relatives of Listyev, investigators who conducted the case. And everyone answers the main question: who killed Vlad Listyev?

Gangster capitalism, a shaky state, predatory privatization — and in the midst of all this, suddenly there appears a savior who promises prosperity and justice for all. His name is Sergey Mavrodi, he is a mathematician in a tracksuit. The country is amazed: he's doing it! When the authorities destroy the pyramid, it turns out that Mavrodi himself has not made a personal profit from his global adventure. He just loves building pyramids, and after seven years behind bars, he's starting to do it all over the world.