THE ANNA AKHMATOVA FILE
Directed by Semyon Aranovich, 1990

A portrait of the extraordinary Soviet poet Anna Akhmatova. Although her work was banned and went unpublished for seventeen years, her poem "Requiem" became the underground anthem for the millions who suffered under Stalin. Russian with English subtitles.

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BRIGANDS, CHAPTER VII
Directed by Otar Iosselliani, 1996

This ambitious fresco from Otar Iosseliani, the great Georgian exile director, spans several centuries and countries. In a scheme that recalls Intolerance, the film cuts freely between 16th Century Georgia, Stalinist Georgia, contemporary Georgia, and contemporary France, with the same actors playing different roles in the different times and places.

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CONFESSION
Directed by Alexander Sokurov, 1998

A powerful and unique documentary that chronicles the lives of a soul-searching ship's captain and his young sailors as they sail the Arctic region in a Russian naval ship. Narrated mostly by the captain, the film focuses on the daily duties associated with a ship based in the Arctic, but it is also an engrossing study in human solitude and the effects of isolation. In Russian with English subtitles.

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DIALOGUES WITH SOLZHENITSYN
Directed by Alexander Sokurov, 1999

In this evocative two-part portrait of Alexander Solzhenitsyn, director Alexander Sokurov interprets the acclaimed writer's life based on two lengthy talks with Solzhenitsyn and his wife. Dialogues is not a straightforward biography but instead focuses on Solzhenitsyn's monologues and his discussions with Sokurov about Russian literature, folklore, history, and language. In Russian with English subtitles.

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ELEGY OF A VOYAGE
Directed by Alexander Sokurov, 2001/1996

From the uncompromising vision of Alexander Sokurov (Russian Ark) comes two short films caught in the cross-section of painting and film. In Elegy of a Voyage, Sokurov crosses vast landscapes, sails the high seas, and stumbles through congested cities to bask in the power of a beautiful landscape by Peter Saenredam. In Hubert Robert, a Fortunate Life, Sokurov meditates on the work of French romantic painter Hubert Robert, whose paintings of lost ruins evoke the same nostalgia and lyricism of Sokurov's own films. In Russian with choice of English, French, Spanish, and Italian subtitles.

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ELEGY OF THE LAND
Directed by Alexander Sokurov, 1977-78

Elegy of the Land contains two shorts by Alexander Sokurov about the significance of the land to Russia, where it has an almost spiritual meaning. Both films are embued with the director's signature moody melancholy. Maria, made in memory of Russian peasant Maria Semionovna Voinova, serves as not only a requiem for a hard-working woman but also for a way of life. The Last Day of a Rainy Summer was shot in 1978 on a Russian collective farm called a kolkhoze. In Russian with option of English, French, Spanish, or Italian subtitles.

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HAMLET
Directed by Grigori Kozintsev, 1964

onsidered by many the finest screen adaptation of Shakespeare's greatest work, Grigori Kozintsev's Hamlet is a spare, haunting interpretation based on a translation by novelist Boris Pasternak. The malevolence afoot in the state of Denmark is magnificently captured by the foreboding black and white cinematography and the dark, dramatic score by composer Dmitri Shostakovich. In Russian with English subtitles.

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I WAS STALIN'S BODYGUARD
Directed by Semyon Aranovich, 1989

Stalin's last surviving personal bodyguard provides unprecedented first-hand testimony, which is combined with rare footage (including Stalin's home movies) for a singular portrait of a complex era. In Russian with English subtitles.

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I WORKED FOR STALIN
Directed by Semyon Aranovich, 1990

Combining the testimony of eyewitnesses with rare archival photos and film footage, this documentary is an insider's look at the tortured history of the U.S.S.R. and Josef Stalin's reign of terror. The film follows Zhdanov, Andreyev, Krushchev, Malenkov, Suslov, and Molotov--Stalin's inner circle--as they jockey for power and position.. In Russian with English subtitles.

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4 FILMS BY OTAR IOSSELIANI
1962-76

This extraordinary DVD premiere of four rare films by acclaimed Georgian filmmaker Otar Iosseliani takes us on a whimsical voyage of self-discovery. Before his self-exile to direct films in France, Iosseliani's work was frequently banned, shelved, or restricted by Soviet authorities. Iosseliani's contemporary fables of modern life and traditional values have been compared to the classic comedies of French master Jacques Tati. In Georgian with English & French subtitles.

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KING LEAR
Directed by Grigori Kozintsev, 1971

Hailed as one of the best adaptations of this Shakespearean tragedy, Kozintsev's King Lear is a striking epic interpretation based on a translation by novelist Boris Pasternak and driven by a stirring score by composer Dmitri Shostakovich. Kozintsev transposed the setting to a sparse landscape of moors and marshes, which provides an eerie backdrop to the bare castles and roaming bands of ragged, destitute wanderers. In Russian with English subtitles.

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THE KOZINTSEV COLLECTION:
HAMLET & KING LEAR
Directed by Grigori Kozintsev, 1964/1971

Three of Russia's legendary artists bring Shakespeare's greatest works to the screen. As directed by Grigori Kozintsev, scripted by Boris Pasternak (Dr. Zhivago), and scored by Dmitri Shostakovich, King Lear and Hamlet are masterpieces of the cinema.

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LADY WITH THE DOG
Directed by Iosif Kheifits, 1960

A faithful adaptation from the short story by Chekhov, Lady With the Dog is a forgotten masterpiece of the Soviet cinema. Told with little dialogue and minimal action, this romantic drama is a bittersweet portrait of a doomed love affair between Dmitri, a bank official, and Anna, a wellto- do young woman. The two fall in love while on vacation in Yalta, but because each is married to someone else, they can see each other only once a year. In Russian with English subtitles.

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MOSCOW ELEGY
Directed by Alexander Sokurov, 1986-87

Moscow Elegy is a subjective portrait of the legendary Andrei Tarkovsky, whose shadow looms large over Russian cinema, despite his exile to Western Europe at the end of his life. Sokurov, who shot the film while working at Leningrad State Documentary Productions (LSDF), focuses on Tarkovsky's absence from the then-Soviet Union and meditates on what he left behind. In Russian and Italian with English subtitles.

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THE OUTSKIRTS
Directed by Peter Lutsik, 1998

A film about revenge from Russia. A group of men travel across Russia in search of those who stole their land. "Stunning!" (The Independent). Russian with English subtitles.

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7 SONGS FROM THE TUNDRA
Directed by Leopoldo Markku Lehmuskallio & Anastasia Lapsui, 2001

Filmmaker Anastasia Lapsui, a Nenet who hails from the Russian tundra, has combined Nenet legends with her personal experiences to portray the life of her people under the communist regime. Unfolding in seven separate stories or "songs," this exquisite film offers an impressionist view of an ancient culture caught between their traditions and legends and the threat of the modern world and its politics. In Nenets and Russian with English subtitles.

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SONATA FOR VIOLA
Directed by Semyon Aranovich & Alexander Sokurov, 1981

Sokurov's film is regarded as the definitive document on one of the 20th century's most important composers, Dmitri Shostakovich. Miraculously preserved from the hands of the KGB who wanted it destroyed, Sonata for Viola has been fully restored after being hidden for years. In Russian with English subtitles.

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SPIRITUAL VOICES
Directed by Alexander Sokurov, 1995

In 1994, Sokurov accompanied Russian troops assigned to a frontier military post at the Tajikistan/Afghanistan border to film their experiences. Though Russia had pulled out of its war with Afghanistan in 1989, a shadowy enemy still dogs the Russian troops along the border.

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STALIN: BY THOSE WHO KNEW HIM
Directed by Semyon Aranovich, 1989-1990

The bold documentaries of Semyon Aranovich created a storm of controversy in Russia by revealing the truth behind a violent, repressive era of Soviet history. Includes The Anna Akhmatova File, I Was Stalin's Bodyguard, and I Worked for Stalin.

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THE STEAMROLLER AND THE VIOLIN
Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky, 1960

Andrei Tarkovsky's student thesis film. A steamroller-driver and a boy violinist forge an unusual and powerful friendship. In Russian with English subtitles.

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VIVA CASTRO!
Directed by Boris Frumin, 1993

Director Boris Frumin returned to his native Russia after 16 years in exile to make this drama set in a small Russian town in 1965 -- an era when hard-line communism made a profound impact on the daily lives of ordinary people. The story chronicles the coming of age of young Kolya, whose life is filled with romance, hardship, good times, and unexpected tragedy. Kolya is in love with his singing teacher, while one of his classmates harbors a crush on him. Complications ensue when his father skips town after stealing coins from a museum, and his mother is imprisoned for the crime.

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VOYAGE IN TIME
Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky & Tonino Guerra, 1983

This intimate film chronicles celebrated Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky (Solaris, The Sacrifice, and Stalker) as he searches locations and explores ideas for his next feature film. Accompanied by famed Italian screenwriter Tonino Guerra (Red Desert), Tarkovsky explores the countryside and medieval villages of Italy, searching for an internal landscape as much as a literal one. Italian and Russian with English subtitles.

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WE ARE GOING TO AMERICA
Directed by Efim Gribov, 1992

The familiar tale of an immigrant family's journey to America is turned into a magical mystery tour as seen through the eyes of 11-year old Motl. The boy's imagination spins wildly as he and his family -- loaded down with all their worldly goods and their other-worldly "baggage" -- make their way from the shtetl to America. Inspired by the paintings of Marc Chagall, director Efim Gribov interprets the workings of Motl's imagination via comic and grotesque figures, ghosts from the past, and a dreamy, surreal atmosphere. In Russian and Yiddish with English subtitles.

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