Light Over Koordi

Enemy at the Gates

February 2001 •English

A Russian and a German sniper play a game of cat-and-mouse during the Battle of Stalingrad in WWII.

Land

February 1957 •Polish

Poland in the 50s, 20th century The process of collectivization of agriculture is under way. The wealthy Slumdog farmer is one of the last individual farmers who have not joined the cooperative and are trying to grow their own land. But it is very difficult - the unemployed mercenaries who paid for them run to cooperatives (where they have better conditions), the environment or the local authorities do not accept him as a kulak. Struggling with the problem of how to make a 40-hectare farm last, he remains alone in the face of a loss of land that he cannot cultivate.

The Invisible Front

March 2014 •English

Between 1944–1953, courageous resistance movement took place in the Baltic region of Europe, uniting the partisan troops for struggle against the Soviet Union. “The Invisible Front” was a coded name used by the Soviet Interior forces to describe the resistance movement in Lithuania. Film depicts the story of the fighters through the words and experience of the partisan leader, Juozas Luksa, and interviews with eyewitnesses of those events - both the partisans and the Soviet fighters. Tales of horror, torture and courage are told in the rare archival footage that has never been screened before, and interviews with the surviving members of the resistance movement.

If War Comes Tomorrow

February 1938 •Russian

The propaganda documentary about the readiness of the Red Army to repulse any enemy is based on documentary shots taken during the real maneuvers of the Red Army. Armadas of tanks, immense columns of infantry, dozens of fighters and bombers, thousands of cavalry, legendary divisions of the Civil War. The film glorifies Soviet military power and shows the Soviet people what the war will be like when the imperialists attack the USSR — quick, victorious, almost bloodless.

Predohra v mol

January 1983 •Slovak

Kto odchádza v daždi...

March 1975 •Slovak

A drama from the period of village collectivisation in 1947-1948, it depicts the life of former beggars who, after the war and land reform, acquire land and dream of becoming wealthy landlords. New social conditions, the onset of collectivisation, but also the great drought bring with them unwelcome changes.

A Night in September

September 1939 •Russian

Film deals with Stakhanovite movement. Old miners try to sabotage young man's plan to renew methods of getting coal.

Přicházejí z tmy

June 1954 •Czech

In a South Bohemian village in 1951, the local rich organize acts of sabotage and try to stop the establishment of an agricultural cooperative with threatening letters and arson. A kulak's son even secretly returns from the West to terrorize the village with his brother. However, the ordinary villagers stand up to them.

Frona

September 1954 •Czech

Frona Filípková, out of a desire for a better life, married Floriš Zobač on the land. However, the ownership of the land has affected both her husband and her father-in-law, who, out of hatred, intrigue against the emerging agricultural cooperative and against each other, so Frona looks for a way to free herself.

Tale of the Woods

December 1926 •Belarusian

A young Belarussian man joins Soviet partisans in order to fight Polish occupational forces in Belarus.

Tri razy svitá ráno

May 1962 •Slovak

Čisté ruky

June 1968 •Slovak

Lenin and the Other Story of the Russian Revolution

June 2018 •French

Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, better known as Lenin, is remembered as the instigator of the October Revolution of 1917 and, therefore, as one of the men who changed the shape of the world at that time and forever, but perhaps the actual events happened in a way different from that narrated in the history books…

What Would Happen If...?

September 1960 •German

In the late 1950s, the collectivization of agriculture is in full swing in the East German village of Willshagen on the German-German border. Those in charge have to face many obstacles, especially from a large-scale farmer who is unwilling to join the co-op. All of a sudden, mysterious men in a fancy car appear in the village and show an interest in the rundown manor house. Gossip spreads quickly, and some villagers think there will be a re-parceling of properties and a land swap with West Germany. They assume everything will go back to how it used to be and even expect the count to return to his manor. In preparation, the situation in the village escalates at a fevered pitch.

Wedding in Malinovka

September 1967 •Russian

The movie takes place during Russia's civil war between the Reds (Bolsheviks) and the Whites (Mensheviks). Andrejka and Yarinka are a young betrothed couple in the village of Malinovka, caught between the battle lines. Gritsian is the leader of a Menshevik band who are planning to attack the village. Yarinka appeals to the local Bolshevik commander for his faction's help. The Bolsheviks quickly come up with a plan to save the village... but the plan requires Yarinka to enter into a pretend marriage with Gritsian.

Farewell on the Ice Floe

January 1938 •Russian

Veteran Soviet polar explorers have spent nearly a year adrift on an ice floe in the Arctic. To commemorate their recent Hero of the Soviet Union honors, they retreat to their heated “USSR” tent, where a lavish feast magically appears: fish, fruits, cake and sparkling wine. As Stalin’s portrait looms above a banner quoting his 1935 promise that “life has become better, life has become merrier,” the scientists toast the New Year in true Soviet style. Outside, the Arctic wildlife has been rounded up like GULAG prisoners, marching in formation with banners to salute their “Bolshevik masters.” Mid-revelry, famed geographer Otto Schmidt parachutes in, greeted by each scientist with a warm “Brezhnev-style” cheek kiss. United once more, the five heroes raise their glasses under the northern lights, proving that even on the loneliest ice floe, Soviet camaraderie and celebration endures.

PBS NewsHour: Inside Putin's Russia

July 2017 •English

Correspondent Nick Schifrin and producer Zach Fannin take us inside Vladimir Putin's Russia, with an in-depth look at the resurgent national identity, the government's propaganda machine, the risk of being a Kremlin critic and much more.

The Letter to a Chinese Friend

January 1969 •Russian

Film by Aleksandr Medvekin to a metonymic Chinese friend, advocating against Mao and the Ussuri River Skirmish.

Salt for Svanetia

May 1930 •Georgian

An ethnographic treasure that documents with visual bravado the harsh conditions of life in the isolated mountain village of Ushkul.

A Very Animated War

August 2021 •German

From 1945 to 1989, after the capitulation of Nazi Germany, two rival ideologies, communism and capitalism, faced each other in a merciless battle. On one side of the Iron Curtain and on the other, throughout the Cold War, the USSR and the United States sought to shape children’s imaginations through their magazines and films. Never in the history of mankind have so many comic books been published and so many cartoons produced for young people. In November 1989, communism collapsed with the Berlin Wall; capitalism was left to decide the future of the world. What if this victory had been prepared for a long time, and our thinking conditioned, from our early childhood, to ensure this absolute triumph?