0533 – 1944 (2015)

spacetime coordinates:  Estonia 1944

In “1944” Director Elmo Nyuganena portrays the real events on the Eastern Front in Estonia in 1944, from the Battle Of Tannenburg Line, the July fighting on the Sinimäed Hills, until November, when the Sõrve peninsula was already conquered by the Soviet Army. The war is shown through the eyes of participants in the events on both warring sides – the Estonians who fought on the side of the German Army in the 20th Estonian division Waffen-SS, and as part of the 8th Estonian Rifle Corps of the Soviet Army.

The film has been banned in the Russian Federation.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3213684/

498 – The Death of Stalin (2017)

spacetime coordinates:  1953 Moscow

The Death of Stalin is a 2017 political satire film directed and co-written by Armando Iannucci. Based on the French graphic novel La mort de Staline, it depicts the Soviet power struggles following the death of dictator Joseph Stalin in 1953.

A number of academics commented on the historical accuracy of The Death of Stalin. Historian Richard Overy noted in The Guardian that the film “is littered with historical errors”, which can be “viewed as cinematic licence“, but was most critical that the film did not appropriately honour Stalin’s victims. Director Iannucci stated that he “chose to tone down real-life absurdity” to make the work more believable.  Samuel Goff, at the Department of Slavonic Studies, University of Cambridge, cited several justifiable historical inaccuracies with the ranks and roles of Stalin’s inner circle, but thought the film missed the overall point and was unable to locate any of the inherent humour contained in Stalinism.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4686844/

0489 – Ikitie / The Eternal Road (2017)

spacetime coordinates: 1930’s Finland // Kolkhoz  in East Karelia, Soviet Union

The Eternal Road (Finnish: Ikitie) is a 2017 Finnish drama film based on a novel by Antti Tuuri  set against the backdrop of the untold story about 10,000 people who voluntarily moved from North America to the Soviet Union to build a worker’s paradise, but who eventually learned the true face of Stalin’s U.S.S.R. (based on true events)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4173170/

0446 – Child 44 (2015)

spacetime coordinates: 1953 > Moscow > Volsk > Rostov-on-Don >

Child 44 is a 2015 mystery drama film directed by Daniel Espinosa, written by Richard Price, and based on Tom Rob Smith‘s 2008 novel of the same name. The film stars an ensemble cast featuring Tom Hardy, Gary Oldman, Noomi Rapace, Joel Kinnaman, Paddy Considine, Jason Clarke, and Vincent Cassel. Both the novel and the film are very loosely based on the case of Soviet serial killer Andrei Chikatilo, who had been portrayed in the earlier film Citizen X.

Ban of the film in Russia

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1014763/

0440 – (desolate)

Sweet Virginia (2017)

spacetime coordinates: 2010’s remote Alaska

“Set in murky Alaska, but filled with soft, southern accented characters, it takes place in a tiny, forgotten place, where people struggle for money, hide their histories, wear baseball caps, drive pickups, move at a snail’s pace, and settle their matters in a violent fashion. At the centre of a nifty noire tangle is an uncomfortable buddy-buddy relationship between an aw-shucks former rodeo star trying unsuccessfully to live a low-key life as a motel owner, and a troubled, snaky hit man. “ js-66130

imdb

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Siberia (2018)

A world with no exit, indeed.

imdb

0393 – Hedgehog in the Fog (1975)

Hedgehog in the Fog (Russian: Ёжик в тумане, tr. Yozhik v tumane, IPA: [ˈjɵʐɨk f tʊˈmanʲɪ]) is a 1975 Soviet animated film directed by Yuriy Norshteyn,  produced by the Soyuzmultfilm studio in Moscow.  The script was written by Sergei Kozlov, who also published a book under the same name. In 2006, Norshteyn published a book titled Hedgehog in the Fog, listing himself as an author alongside Kozlov.

Hedgehog in the Fog was ranked #1 in a poll at the 2003 Laputa Animation Festival where 140 animators from around the world voted for the best animated films of all time.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedgehog_in_the_Fog#Role_in_Soviet_Animation

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073099/

0384 – The Mystery of the Third Planet (1981)

At the end of the 22nd century Alisa Seleznyova, her father Professor Seleznyov and pilot Zeleny go on a space expedition to find rare animals for Moscow Zoo.

The  Mystery of the Third Planet (Russian: Тайна третьей планеты, Tayna tretyey planety), aka The Secret of the Third Planet is a 1981 Soviet traditionally animated feature film directed by Roman Kachanov and produced by the Soyuzmultfilm studio in Moscow. It is based on a children’s science fiction novella “Alice’s Travel” by Kir Bulychov, from Alisa (Alice) Selezneva book series. 

The movie is considered a cult classic in Russia,  a diafilm and a number of video games were based on The Mystery of the Third Planet, and spiritual successor film Alice’s Birthday was released in 2009.

wiki       imdb