Oleg Mikhajlov

Based on the fairy tale by Janusz Korczak, staged by the State Central Children’s Theatre. The story of a boy‑king who dreamed of making all the children in his kingdom happy.

In November, 1942, near the Volga, Stanlingrad is under siege of Commander Friederich Paulus and his 330,000 men. The Russian high command unleashes an operation to protect the Mishkova River to avoid that about four hundred tanks join Paulus' army. The Soviet artillery soldiers protect their position with their lives in a bloodshed with few survivors.

There is a war. In occupied Ukraine, the fascists fiercely suppress any centers of resistance among the civilian population, but now young people are joining the fight against the invaders. In the town of Malin, Zhytomyr Region, Nina Sosnina and her friends create an underground cell.

Praised for its fine photography and production design if not its narrative, Sergei Bondarchuk directed this adaptation of the tale by Alexander Pushkin. Boris Godunov came to the Czarist throne at the end of the 16th century, after the original heir to Ivan the Terrible had died. At first, things went well for Godunov (played by Bondarchuk), but when the Russian people began to believe he had killed Ivan the Terrible's son in order to gain the throne, an alliance sprang up against the new Czar. Events continued to spin out of control as a young monk was presented as the son Godunov had supposedly killed. Now he was openly accused of failing an assassination attempt, which seems to be even worse than succeeding. In addition to these woes, Boris Godunov began to suffer serious health problems. So much for the joys of kingship.

The young soldier Vasily Lemekhov has returned from the hospital and met a young woman Natasha in Chisinau.