Tashkent: The End of an Era

Extinction

July 2018 •Portuguese

The end of the Cold War did not bring about a definitive thaw in the former republics of the Soviet Union, so that today there are several frozen conflicts, unresolved for decades, in that vast territory. As in Transnistria, an unrecognized state, seceded from Moldova since 1990. Kolja is a silent witness of how borders and bureaucracy shape the lives of citizens, finally forced to lose their identity.

The Wall

January 1991 •Latvian

A fragment of the Berlin Wall in the centre of Riga.

Basements on Dybenko Street

Invalid date •Russian

In the Russian city of St. Petersburg, in the Dybenko basements, drug addict children survive by taking drugs. This is an attempt to look into this terrible world from the inside.

Russia vs. Russia

February 2022 •French

More than twenty years after Vladimir Putin came to supreme power in Russia on May 7, 2000, Russian society is deeply divided. A young, modern generation opposes the growing repression by the regime, which still retains the support of many members of previous generations. Who are these ordinary citizens who dream of living in a different Russia? What price will they have to pay to achieve the freedom and justice they so desire?

Yakutia — Between The Worlds

September 2024 •Russian

A documentary road movie. Traveling across his homeland, the filmmaker explores what Yakut cinema is, and what it means to the Sakha people and to himself.

The Children of Leningradsky

August 2005 •Polish

Since the fall of the Iron Curtain an estimated four million children have found themselves living on the streets in the former countries of the Soviet Union. In the streets of Moscow alone there are over 30,000 surviving in this manner at the present time. The makers of the documentary film concentrated on a community of homeless children living hand to mouth in the Moscow train station Leningradsky. Eight-year-old Sasha, eleven-year-old Kristina, thirteen-year-old Misha and ten-year-old Andrej all dream of living in a communal home. They spend winter nights trying to stay warm by huddling together on hot water pipes and most of their days are spent begging. Andrej has found himself here because of disagreements with his family. Kristina was driven into this way of life by the hatred of her stepmother and twelve-year-old Roma by the regular beatings he received from his constantly drunk father. "When it is worst, we try to make money for food by prostitution," admits ...

Kirgistan - Hochgebirgsland voller Schätze

December 2018 •German

Eksperiment Katja

October 2020 •Russian

Russian-speaking Katja was born in 1992 in the Estonian city of Narva, not far from the Russian border. She represents the entire generation of the 1990s, which sees itself as a house with no address or railway tracks leading nowhere. In the ruins of the Soviet Union, she searches for her national identity and learns to breathe freedom.

The War Diary

April 2023 •French

The War Diary is a contemporary road movie that confronts history with the current reality of Russia, Ukraine, Armenia and Georgia. An extraordinary document leads Hakob Melkonyan to undertake the journey of a lifetime:

History Behind The Screen. 35 mm

January 2018 •Latvian

Some of the most iconic images in Latvian visual history were taken 30 years ago, when the so-called Singing Revolution took place. This documentary that includes well-known and previously unseen 35 mm footage, is about those who took these shots, told in their own voices, their own emotions and memories.

Dawn of the Great Steppe

May 2022 •Kazakh

In the 16th century, during the Kazakh Khanate, Kasym Khan was the fourth ruler, often viewed as the greatest leader to unite the Kazakh tribes.

Crystal Swan

August 2018 •Russian

Minsk, Belarus, 1996. Velya, an aspiring DJ, wants to move to Chicago to make her dreams come true, but bureaucracy, a phone line and the human condition will put obstacles in her way that will be difficult to avoid.

Between Borders

January 2025 •English

In a crumbling Soviet Union, the Petrosyan family finds themselves as outcasts—wherever they go. Their Armenian heritage marks them for discrimination, first in their home country of Azerbaijan and then in Russia. After finding their eternal hope through a church planted by American missionaries, the hostility of everyday life pushes them to seek refuge in the United States. In the shadow of exile, hope became their home. Based on a riveting true story of faith and hope set amidst great oppression.

Il toro

September 1994 •Italian

After being fired from his bull breeding job without proper compensation, Franco steals a world-class bull from his former employer and smuggles it to Hungary, planning to sell it for a large sum of money.

Compartment No. 6

October 2021 •Finnish

A young Finnish woman escapes an enigmatic love affair in Moscow by boarding a train to the arctic port of Murmansk. Forced to share the long ride and a tiny sleeping car with a larger than life Russian miner, the unexpected encounter leads the occupants of Compartment No. 6 to face major truths about human connection.

The Comrades of Summer

July 1992 •English

Sparky Smith (Joe Mantegna) was manager of the Seattle Mariners until he had one too many shouting matches with the team's owner (Michael Lerner) and winds up fired. Now Sparky's ready to coach any team who'll have him. The only problem is, no one will, until the day the Russian Sports Ministry led by the delectable Tanya (Natalya Negoda) comes knocking at his door. The Russians need a baseball coach for their Olympic team, and Sparky is just the man for the job. Once on Russian soil though, he soon discovers that the Russian team is composed of athletes, hockey players, and shot putters who barely know their way around a diamond. Confronted with this losing team, hilarious comedy ensues when Sparky is told to accept an invitation to have his team visit the States and play his old team the Mariners.

The Generation of Evil

October 2022 •Lithuanian

On the verge of retirement, Commissioner Gintas must undertake the investigation of a series of heinous murders, a dangerous task that could expose the many dirty secrets of several prominent members of the social elite of a small Lithuanian town.

Black January

January 2015 •Azerbaijani

The film tells the story of the events during the night of January 19 to 20, 1990, when the Soviet Army invaded Baku and its surroundings and killed many civilians.

Off the Field

July 2024 •Ukrainian

An avowed communist who is an experimental superhero born in a test tube during the Cold War meets his old friend who plans to change the history of mankind once and for all. The protagonist has to decide whether to allow changes in world politics or to kill his own and most importantly his close friend.

Homeland

February 2010 •Mongolian

After graduating in Fine Arts, Najiya has found work in an art publishing house, while she dedicates herself to deepening her creative obsession – painting pictures representing her people's totem, the sacred deer – and gradually becoming a renowned young artist. Despite enjoying her success, the atmosphere of her triumph enhances her feeling of loneliness and longing for her homeland, her country. Ignoring her friends' attempts to dissuade her and her lover's pleas, Najiya quits her job in the city to return to the distant mountains of Xing An Ling. But unexpectedly, her people have herded the deer out of the forest and gone to live in the city. In an empty forest, she can't find anything, not even herself.