Sound Engineer: Ivan Apilat

When the Chernobyl nuclear power station blew up in 1985 it seemed that Time came to a halt. Indeed, it did for those residents in areas that were contaminated with radioactive fallout from the disaster. In this film, for the first time, the public hears things that these residents previously wouldn’t dare to speak aloud. This is a genre called "post-apocalyptic documentary”.

This film is about the modern-day, round-the-world expedition of three Russian sailing ships. As part of the current expedition, teenage Russian cadets and cabin boys learned everything about sailing ships. Part of the cinematic shorts was made with a drone, a sky-high flying ‘unmanned’ camera.

The first day of summer. A house is on fire. Labeled as a “documentary thriller”, this film was made by a blogger who is a professional firefighter. It offers an immersive experience of going inside a ‘bag of fire’, a burning house. This is genuine and not a staged trick.

This is a story of a woman who survived the Holocaust. The film is a combination of incompatible things: the Holocaust which we know only from newsreels – and a modern means of communication, a smartphone which is in our pocket. The film was shot with a mobile phone.

Just how much do we remember from our childhood and why is it important to us? Fragments of elusive memories, as well as voices and shimmers of light – these often are the flickering sensations of childhood. They follow us all our life, but how do we view these experiences later in life. These memories are somewhere in the deep recesses of our memory in the form of bits of conversations, flashes of light and shadows. With this film, the director tries to capture his daughter’s early years growing up, in order to provide her with her future memories — by creating an intricate labyrinth, where memories have their own path of development. Scenes and fragments cling to each other on an associative basis.

In this video essay the director shows the process of the child's cognition of the world by utilizing cinematic techniques that play with light and shadows. The shadow is the main background, symbolizing the hidden world that’s the main one in the formation of the child.

In the Caucasus region, on the border where Europe meets the Middle East, is one of Earth’s oldest nations. The Georgian people are heirs to an ancient tradition of religious singing. This film is a journey to that fabulous country, a story about Georgia’s exquisite Orthodox Christian chants. Scholars say, "the best that people have dedicated to God are the Georgian chants.” They are precious gems in mankind’s musical heritage. The film features the finest performances, bringing the audience into contact with the spiritual heights of the Georgian people.

When Russian culture interacts with South American social mores, the results can be slightly awkward. Sergey, theatre director, arrives in Chile from Russia to stage Masquerade by Mikhail Lermontov (1814-1841), one of the most famous Russian Romantic poets. Meanwhile, a Chilean group of actors learns the same texts in Spanish. But when the creative process touches upon rumors about the poet’s life, some uncomfortable moments arise: it turns out Chile has different ways of dealing with culture, sexuality, and censorship.

Two Russian brothers, both natural artistic geniuses. Alexander and Vladimir Burov are residents of the small village of Fedorovka-1 in the steppe in south-central Russia. Alexander is a realist; Vladimir is an abstractionist. They live in the same world, but each sees it in his own way. Their relationship is complex. They live on neighboring streets, but creative jealousy flares up. Alexander is a member of the Union of Artists, and Vladimir is a hermit who can't stand public exhibitions. The art historians who discovered them speak of the brothers as world-class artists. The true story of this rural ‘Russian Cain and Abel’ comes to a head at their personal exhibition in France, which was organized by their admirer.

During the brutal years of Soviet repression, George Costakis somehow managed to secretly gather and preserve in his Moscow apartment some of the greatest works of Russian Avant-garde art. The film features the collector’s daughter, artists, art critics, and museum curators sharing memories of Costakis. They disagree and question each other’s versions of his life. But through the fragments of their recollections, the viewer can piece together the collector’s multifaceted personality that was anything but simple.

A great pianist and composer, Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943) escaped from Soviet Russia in the 1920s and found a new life in the USA. This is the first comprehensive biography of Rachmaninoff created by American filmmakers. Featuring commentary and performances by today's most respected pianists, this is a story of overcoming hardship and eventual redemption through the power of music.

Serge Hollerbach was one of New York City's most celebrated artists, a key member of the National Institute of Design, and the recipient of prestigious American and European awards. Although he was blind at the time of filming, Serge creates two paintings separated in time by a four-year period during which he has visibly aged and his eyesight has deteriorated. While painting, he discusses art and analyzes his long 95-year journey through life.

Teodor Currentzis is one of the most prestigious contemporary conductors; his interpretations of classical and contemporary music as well as his unorthodox conducting manner and new aesthetics of reading well-known music are a source of inspiration for music lovers all over the world. Born in Athens, Greece, Currentzis spent eight years in Perm, a province of Russia. He founded the Territory Festival of Contemporary Art and supervised the Diaghilev Festival. This film is the story of two weeks spent with the famous conductor.

The pillars of modern theater are in large part built upon the genius of a theater director, Konstantin Stanislavsky. Students around the world train according to his ‘Stanislavsky system’. This film explores the acting profession and its impact on viewers. Using rare footage from archives in Russia, America, Germany, and France, the author tells about the life and legacy of the great Russian theater master, about his revolutionary system that changed the world. The film includes interviews with famous actors and their teachers, directors, and producers.

Dedicated to the 20th century’s greatest impresario, this film is a journey through the "virtual" museum of Sergei Diaghilev. Each room tells about the particular field of Diaghilev’s activities. The "excursion" is led by "guides" - famous figures in disciplines related to the work of Diaghilev, including ballet great dancer Nikolai Tsiskaridze; as well as fashion historian Alexandre Vassilyev. The focus is not only on Diaghilev’s new artistic ideas but also on his talent as an organizer, as well as his discoveries in the field of producing, public relations, and advertising.

The film is the final message from a brilliant musician, a great teacher, and an amazing person, telling the story of the outstanding 20th-century cellist, Natalia Shakhovskaya, professor of the Moscow Conservatory, and Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía, Spain. The Queen of Spain presented to Natalia the Civil Order of Knighthood of Alphonse X the Wise, and she has conformed to these knightly ideals and instilled them in her students.

Poet Marina Tsvetaeva (1892-1941) was one of Russia’s greatest 20th-century literary geniuses, but her life has still provoked discussion and antagonistic interpretations since her suicide in 1940. This film gathered Russian celebrities – artists and writers - to respond to the accusations hurled at Marina Tsvetaeva. Based on letters, diaries, and archival documents, the film reveals the most personal details of Tsvetaeva's life from 1917 to 1922, which was a time of the Revolution and Civil War. It’s impossible to explain what Tsvetaeva's true motives were. The director wants to air an alternative point of view to the insults.

Though confined to a wheelchair, he was one of modern Russia’s greatest comic geniuses. Vadim Fisson was the creator, director, and artistic genius behind Comic Trust, the world-famous St. Petersburg theater. While officially classified as a "person with disabilities", he lived a  dynamic life and conquered all the tragic vicissitudes of fate with his boundless talent, wisdom, and humor. The theater that he gave birth to, Comic Trust, continues to live on and bring joy to thousands across Russia and the world.

As climate change intensifies and radically alters ecosystems and animal behavior, Russia’s second-largest city is enjoying a most unusual surprise. On the banks of St. Petersburg’s Neva River, people began to notice young seals in the spring. There are about 30,000 Baltic seals left, but they’ve never been spotted so far east, on St. Petersburg's shores. Or maybe they were simply good at hiding from humans and never noticed before. Now, the people of St. Petersburg can see those amazing sea creatures that are not typical for the city. The film reflects the beauty of local wildlife and shows how humans can live in harmony with these denizens of the sea.