Unfading

Unfading

2026 · 126 min · Drama

This visually evocative drama, directed by the legendary Marlen Khutsiev and completed after his death, is inspired by the real-life encounters between Anton Chekhov and Leo Tolstoy. Through a series of intimate conversations, the two literary giants confront the fundamental questions of existence—life, death, faith, and immortality. In doing so, they reveal profoundly different worldviews, yet ones rooted in a shared cultural tradition and bound by mutual respect. In 2026, the film was finished at the initiative of Marlen Khutsiev’s friends and colleagues.

Directed by Marlen Khutsiyev · Written by Marlen Khutsiyev

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Unfading

Youth Street

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Youth Street

Youth Street · 1958

The second half of the 1950s. A new microdistrict is being built on the outskirts of the city. A group of guys - graduates of a craft school - is sent to the construction site. Also on the construction site arrives a group of girls from the village. The youth collective is fused, sympathy and love are born...

People of 1941

People of 1941 · 2001

MovieDocumentaryTV Movie

The second World War echoes throughout the whole Khutsiyev's oeuvre. The director himself did not participate in the war: "The thing is, I didn't fight. I had been a sickly boy, so I was turned down because I still looked like a child. This is sort of like a debt I've been repaying ever since". In "People of 1941", Khutsiyev recites his favourite pieces by war poets and invokes documentary footage.

I Am Twenty

I Am Twenty · 1965

Having returned from the army, 20-year-old Sergei settles down at the thermal power station and merges into ordinary life. Every day he meets and spends time with childhood friends — the young family man Slava and the merry fellow Nikolai, and once at first sight he falls in love with a stranger on the bus. A lyrical story about a generation of young people entering adulthood, a reappraisal of values, life principles, traditions in culture and art.

Spring on Zarechnaya Street

Spring on Zarechnaya Street · 1956

Spring on Zarechnaya Street

MovieDramaRomance

The story unfolds in an industrial town where a young and charming literature teacher arrives, assigned to teach at an evening school. One of the boys from the metallurgical plant falls in love with the educated girl, but communication between the two young people turns out to be quite challenging.

On the Day of the Holiday

On the Day of the Holiday · 1978

On the Day of the Holiday

About one day of a large mining family. In the center of the picture is a veteran, a former miner, and now a pensioner Panteleimon Dmitriyevich Grinin, who on Victory Day decided to introduce children to his “lady of the heart” hairdresser Zinaida. The action lasts only a day, but a lot happens during this time with the sons, daughters-in-law, daughter and Zinaida...

To Remember

To Remember · 1993

SeriesDocumentary

July Rain

July Rain · 1967

MovieDramaRomance

Lena, a woman in her late twenties, loves her boyfriend, but in time comes to see that their relationship serves no useful function. What's more, she sees that her friends are for the most part empty-headed lackeys, causing her to wonder just what is the point of her life.

Strong with Spirit

Strong with Spirit · 1967

Strong with Spirit

MovieAdventureWar

The true story of the Soviet intelligence officer Nikolai Kuznetsov, who, behind enemy lines in Ukraine, infiltrated Hitler's headquarters, kidnapped the commander of the punitive troops and executed the imperial adviser.

Lyana

MovieComedyMusic

A group of Moldavian folk musicians compete for the top Soviet prize. Singer Lyana loves the flautist, but he's fallen afoul of the group leader.

Intervention

Intervention · 1968

MovieAdventureComedy

The movie is set during the last days of a foreign intervention against Soviet Russia. Police are searching everywhere for a Bolshevik named Brodsky but cannot find him. Meanwhile, a man named Michel Voronov serves as a teacher to a rich woman's son, Zhen'ka.

Shine, Shine, My Star

Shine, Shine, My Star · 1969

Shine, Shine, My Star

MovieComedyDrama

In 1920, just 3 years after the October revolution, the peoples had to decide between conforming to Bolshevism or national self-determination. In that torn-apart-time, one man, the comedian Volodya, tries to mediate, not between different ideologies, but social life and art. While others just want to wash away their gloom, he reflects on the everyday sorrows and the role of art in that time of changes.

The Two Fedors

The Two Fedors · 1958

At the end of the Second World War, Fedor is demobilized and returns home where he meets a homeless boy, small Fedor. They decide to live together. The adult works in the building trade and the boy goes to school and looks after the house. They get on very well until Natacha arrives in big Fedor's life. After marrying big Fedor, Natacha tries to win the child's love. But he remains hostile.

It Was In May

It Was In May · 1970

A few days after the unconditional surrender of German troops, a group of Soviet soldiers is billeted at a farmyard which the war somehow never seems to have reached. This apparently peaceful picture is eerily undermined when the Red Army soldiers are confronted with the full extent of Nazi terror.

Allegro with Fire

Allegro with Fire · 1979

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MovieAdventureDrama

A heroic story about Soviet sailors fighting Nazis during WWII.

The Scarlet Sail of Paris

The Scarlet Sail of Paris · 1971

The Scarlet Sail of Paris

Virtually unseen since its Soviet television broadcast in 1971, the film, Peter Rollberg writes, is “devoted to the anniversary of the Paris commune, mixing historical footage with images of present-day Paris.”

And Still I Believe

And Still I Believe · 1974

And Still I Believe

MovieDocumentary

Originally called World '68, later retitled The World of Today Romm’s film was conceived as an impassioned, large-scale essay on the origins of the 20th century and the subsequent reality the disappointed director felt slipping away from him. The film itself slipped away from him and was left unfinished at the time of his death. His younger colleagues, Marlen Khutsiev, Elem Klimov and German Lavrov, completed the film from the elements he left behind in addition to segments from Ordinary Fascism, closing the film with Romm’s ultimately optimistic outlook: "And still I believe that man is sensible..."

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