Igor Bessarabov
Directing
Known For
A documentary portrait of Yuri Gagarin, the first human in space, revisiting his flight and public life ten years later through training footage, international visits, and mass celebrations.
Our Gagarin
The tour of the French singer Yves Montand and actress Simone Signoret to the USSR in 1956.
Yves Montand is Singing
Film about the third 'Weltfestspiele der Jugend und Studenten für den Frieden' in East Berlin, 1951. West Germany is represented as a degenerate country which has been occupied by the Americans and is still inclined to fascism. We see the construction of the stadium, the departure and arrival of the delegations, the opening and closing by Enrico Berlinguer, a sports event, the parade of the delegations, a visit to Potsdam, folk dancing, and police violence against youngsters from West Berlin who want to visit East Germany because of the games. The film is interlaced with shots from the Korean War and a parade by NATO-troops in West Germany. Featuring Robert Montgomery, Konrad Adenauer, Wilhelm Pieck, Dwight Eisenhower, Robert Leer and Erich Honecker. The crew comprised no less than 24 cameramen. This project was the first great colour film Ivens co-operated in.
Friendship Triumphs
A Soviet biographical documentary devoted to Leonid I. Brezhnev, portraying his life “at work and at home” and tracing his path from the son of a metalworker to General Secretary of the CPSU and Marshal of the Soviet Union.
The Story of the Communist
A documentary on the International Festival of Democratic Youth in Budapest.
World Youth Festival
A poetic documentary chronicling the history of Soviet childhood from the Russian Revolution to the postwar years. Combining children’s drawings with archival footage, the film portrays how young people experienced war, upheaval, and progress, while reflecting on the role of education, the Pioneers, and the dreams of future generations.
The Children of this Century
The film explores how human understanding of the structure of the universe has evolved, drawing on the examples of notable scientists from different eras, and examines the nature of the Sun and the impact of solar flares on life on Earth.