Aleksandr Istomin

Lost film directed by Oleksandr Dovzhenko (his first film) and Favst Lopatynskyi. It is a satire of the NEP period. Vasia, the son of a factory’s worker, is attracted by the romance of adventures. And he goes to look for them. He saves a drowning drunkard who tries to beat him. Vasia escapes from him in a vehicle parked on the shore. However, the vehicle belongs to a superintendent who, when he does not find it, stages its theft. Meanwhile, Vasia exposes priests in the church. As a result, the church is turned into a cinema, and the priest becomes a cinema technician. And finally, Vasia’s last deed is catching a criminal at home and denouncing him to the militia.

"Polikushka" was the only film directed by Aleksandr Sanin, one of Moscow Art Academic Theatre's founders, and is based on Lev Tolstoy's homonym short story. In spite the many differences between the literary oeuvre and its film adaptation it is a remarkable work that is outstanding for its depiction of the cruel realities of Russian society -the harsh life condition of its main character and his family in contrast to the wealth of his mistress;

It's the 17th century, when social antagonism is at its peak. The poverty of peasants and poor Cossacks is opposed to the lavish lifestyle of the Ukrainian and Polish noblemen, priests, and Cossack officers. Cossacks fight off Tatars’ attacks, however, they start to realise that the real enemy is much closer. Taras Triasylo raises Cossacks to help the rebellious peasants.

The violinist Leva Ratkovich loved the poor girl Rachel, but her father did not allow her to marry a "beggar". Making sure that in tsarist Russia he could not achieve recognition, Leva decided to emigrate. After wandering, he falls into the hands of an impressionario, who made him a celebrity. On tour, Leva met his Rachel, who was also forced to emigrate. The Wandering Stars finally meet.

The poor tailor Perchyk who dreams to buy a she-goat lives in a small town. Meanwhile, Perchyk’s daughter Frida falls in love with the unemployed Elia. Perchyk is totally against their marriage, as he cannot buy a she-goat if the son-in-law does not have any money. Finally, Perchyk buys a she-goat from a rich tavern owner but he gives him… a goat. Moreover, a police officer dissatisfied with the tailored uniform forges a document, according to which Perchyk and his whole family are expelled from the town as troublemakers.

A Soviet propaganda film based on material from the Bolshevik coup. During the Russian civil war, the Whites, that anti-Communist force that fought against the Bolsheviks during that period, capture a Jewish Ukranian village; the gang commander threatens a pogrom, and will kill everyone in the village unless the inhabitants agree to give to the White Officers five virgin girls in wedding dresses. Under such terrible pressure, the Jewish council of the town decides, full of sorrow and despair, to sacrifice their daughters to the drunken officers but fortunately and just in time, a detachment of partisans that belong to the Red Army, comes and frees the village.