Aleksey Hanyutin

During the Soviet era, there were over 30,000 Lenin monuments in the USSR. They were recommended to be erected in certain places where Ilyich could “see” how his precepts were being fulfilled. In turn, Lenin’s presence had a beneficial effect on the surrounding area. Temporary portals of sorts appeared near the monuments, leading to the communist future: flowerbeds were laid out, flags were placed, blue spruces were planted. What does Lenin see today? And what do these “islands of the future” look like now? How do the descendants of the builders of communism feel about Lenin? A film of 10 short stories, filmed in different parts of Russia.

The whole world is confident that bears walk the streets in Russia, and the entire population from young to old is drinking vodka from morning to evening. In fairness, we note that Russian people themselves recognize the reputation of inveterate drunkards and are proud of it somewhere. Russian Russian documentarian Alexey Khanyutin made an attempt to analyze the role of vodka in the life of a Russian person.

In recent years, a special "folk craft" has developed in Russia: in-line production of paintings, which are then sold at markets, highways, street vernissages. The film tells about the artel of artists working in this most popular and democratic genre of fine art.

The film is based on the story of the Oval Sarcophagus with Dionysian scenes from the antique collection of the Pushkin Museum im. A.S. Pushkin. At various times, the owners of the sarcophagus were the Roman Emperor Septimius Severus, the Italian Cardinal Marco Sittico Altemps, and finally, the Minister of Public Education of Russia, Count Sergei Uvarov, who purchased the sarcophagus for his "museum" in the Porechye estate near Moscow. The history of the sarcophagus is an occasion to reflect on the connection between epochs and cultures, the vicissitudes of fate, the mystery of life and death. Filming was carried out in various museums in Moscow, Rome, in the Porechye estate and the Hermitage.

The film is based on a series of videos for the Internet dedicated to front-line operators of the Great Patriotic War.