First Floor

Mitia (Maxim Kisilev) is the new boy in a technical school who must adjust to his environment in this childhood drama. He goes through a series of initiations before his classmates are ready to accept him. Andrei Ivanovich (Andrei Tolubeev) is the stern but kindly instructor who looks out for Mitia. Mitia loses his girlfriend when her mother comes to take her home, and Andrei leaves the institution when his wife becomes gravely ill.

The thirties, the heyday of Soviet film production. The story of the famed couple's glory — a filmmaker and actress, behind the external well-being of which were hidden strange contradictory relationships and a sense of fear that they carried through their whole lives. The prologue to this story is the 85th anniversary of Lidiya Polyakova, the formerly brightest star in Soviet cinema, who played the main role in all the films of her own husband, director Konstantin Dalmatov. Now in the courtyard there are other times, Dalmatov’s movies are called ideological agitation, and the director himself and his wife are hiding from the world in the country, trying not to let anyone in.

A contemplative film whose idea is to explore the creation of the myth about the Donbas by using archive footage from documentary and feature films. The film's plot develops along two planes. The first is life through the eyes of Soviet propaganda and the Donbas as a showcase of ideology. The second is real life, hidden from unwelcome eyes. The film uses archive footage and recordings of interviews with former Donbas residents who witnessed Russian aggression and became its victims. Life promised to become a symphony of work, joy and welfare, but turned out to be a delusion and a manipulation. Now there are no illusions left. The symphony of the Donbas has turned into a cacophony of the Donbas.

On New Year's Eve, a small company gathered. An unexpected call interrupted the fun. Behind the door stood a neighbor whom the owners did not like. They turned off the light, pretending that there was nobody at home. After some time, shame seized everyone.

Nina is a young woman of thirty years, who lives in St. Petersburg. She has to bury her mother in a winter day. The ceremony is an opportunity for her to meet her younger brother Andrei, who lives elsewhere.

This is 1920: Sophia and Trofim Ivanytch have been living on Vassilievski Island, which is part of Petrograd, for thirteen years. In their house, which looks like a ship wreck, the atmosphere is gloomy. Sophia cannot have children and she is aware that, because of that, she is likely to lose her husband. That is why, when their neighbor dies, she asks Trofim to take in Ganka, his orphaned thirteen-year-old daughter. Trofim agrees and their new life begins...

Surreal worlds, elegiac images and romantic letters form a stream of suppressed memories. A young man discovers diaries and film reels of his recently deceased mother. Ukrainian director Igor Minaev melts his rarely seen shorts from Soviet times into an emotional journey into the past.

«Izolyatsia» was a major art center in Eastern Europe, was transformed into a prison and torture camp after Russia's 2014 occupation of Donetsk. This film examines survivor testimonies, revealing the tragic dehumanization of a place once dedicated to art.

A short film dedicated to the conductor and children's choir "Shchedryk", which shows that being a conductor of a children's choir is not just a job, but a calling and destiny. Director Ihor Minayev conveys through the film the unique talent and patience needed to teach children to love music.

The population of Moscow doubled between 1917 and 1930, reaching almost 4 million people. The problem of public transport became particularly acute. The decision to begin construction of the Moscow Metro was made in June 1931 at a plenary session of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks). The first shaft was laid on a test site on Rusakovskaya Street in 1931. The deadlines for the launch of the first phase were fantastic and unrealistic. The only means available was propaganda. The heroism of the workers was romanticized and praised in all the media. Twenty-one percent of the city's annual budget was spent on the construction of the metro. On May 15, 1935, the first train with passengers departed from Sokolniki station. The Moscow Metro began its work.