Until the Thunder Strikes

Vasily Kapluntsev, a burgher, died suddenly. Experts found poison in his body, and now his young wife Maria Kapluntseva is accused of murder. The main witness at the trial is the Kapluntsevs' neighbor, Vasily's friend and Maria's lover.

After returning from the army, Sasha learns that Tonya, whom he loves, met another guy, became a mother, is raising a child and works in an oil field in the Gomel region. Sasha goes to the oil field to see Tonya for a possible explanation.

Fitil is a popular Soviet/Russian television satirical/comedy short film series which ran for about 500 episodes. Some of the episodes were aimed at children, and were called Фитилёк, Fitilyok, Little Fuse. Each issue contained from the few short segments: documentary, fictional and animated ones. Directed by various artists, including Leonid Gaidai who presented his famous trio of Nikulin, Vitsin and Morgunov into the cast. It was called in USSR as "the anecdotes from the Soviet government".

A retired air force colonel comes on summer vacation to the Crimea. He comes as a non-official holiday-maker, so the main problem is to find night quarters. There is a brim-full of holiday-makers here at holyday season, and for locals the main business is to rent a bunk. And if one also manages to make money on sending pears, apples, grapes, the whole winter will be supported. Thus many locals survive, others become callous, cynical cold fish, concerned only about gains. Anna Ivanovna, the flat owner, renting a bunk to the colonel, starts reminding of the latter. Looking over a photo in a hall, the colonel suddenly recognizes himself in youth with a friend, who died of consumption and who turned out to be the Annas son.

A former orphanage resident, having served time for a fight, returns to his hometown, terrorized by the local mafia. Not wanting to put up with their criminal laws, the hero courageously enters into battle...

About the feat of doctor Ivan Rusak, one of the best runners in the country, who during the Great Patriotic War, using the tactics of long-distance running, diverted the Nazi punishers from the partisan camp.

Why do these events, as they recede into the past, attract increasing interest? Probably because, as time goes on, it becomes evident that these events—almost unparalleled in human history—continue to have a profoundly fateful impact on the fate of democracy in Russia...

A movie almanac based on the stories of Vasily Aksenov: "Dad, fold it!", "Breakfasts of the forty-third year", "Halfway to the Moon".

In the first episode, Petya builds a homemade camera to secretly film a schoolyard brawl but is delighted when the fighting boys stage a fake reconciliation for his lens and then decide to form their own amateur film studio. In the second, football fans Borya and Alik adopt a stray black kitten, whose presence brings victory to their favorite team. In the third, Tolik and Dima, caught in the rain in their new silk parade uniforms, take refuge in a stairwell, proving that dedication sometimes means making the best of a soggy situation.