Early films from the then Soviet Union had a shaky start due to the First World War and the October Revolution in 1917, but Lenin himself and later Stalin recognised the propaganda uses of the medium. At first, with the infrastructure in tatters and virtually no cinemas in which to screen films, shorts expounding communism were carried from place to place often accompanying live speakers. Once Moscow's first cinema was opened at the end of 1921, newsreels became common. But in 1924 Sergei Eisenstein's 'Strike' became the first true Soviet feature. The following year his 'Battleship Potemkin' was launched to great acclaim, highly propagandistic and towing the party line. Tight restrictions on content continued up until Stalin's death in 1953 and it wasn't until the '60s and '70s that seminal Russian film makers like Andrei Tarkovsky, Sergo Paradjanov and Nikita Mikhalkov began to find their own voice. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the largely state-funded film industry all but disappeared and is only now beginning to find its feet once more. A few gems found their way to Alice's shelves from this period, such as 'Burnt By The Sun' (1994), 'Prisoner of the Mountains' (1996), and our one and only Estonian film is to be found in this section, for want of a better home, the darkly humourous 'Darkness in Tallinn' (1993). 2002 saw the release of 'Russian Ark' (pictured), shot in one take, it is the longest unedited film ever made.
Exploring the rise of one of the world's most feared and fearless warriors, the story of Genghis Khan is still a controversial one. In the West his na... Read more
Exploring the rise of one of the world's most feared and fearless warriors, the story of Genghis Khan is still a controversial one. In the West his na... Read more
This emotionally and visually stunning offering from Russian director Alexander Sokurov awakens the senses to the world of nature, human relationships... Read more
Director Akan Satayev's 'Myn Bala' (one thousand boys) is the epic story of a group of young rebels who rose up against a brutal Mongol army occupying... Read more
In 14th Century Russia two warring factions of vampires called a delicate truce. Overshadowing this peace is an ancient prophecy, one that foretells o... Read more
In 14th Century Russia two warring factions of vampires called a delicate truce. Overshadowing this peace is an ancient prophecy, one that foretells o... Read more
Aka 'Ten Days That Shook The World'. Eisenstein's famous recreation of the October Revolution during which the Bolsheviks overthrew the Kerensky gover... Read more
A young girl studies classical ballet. As a young woman she turns to modern dance and choreography. A modern dance piece like Fred Astaire and Gene Ke... Read more
This devastating drama, based loosely on Tolstoy's Prisoner of the Caucsus, tells of two Russian soldiers captured by Chechen rebels and held in an im... Read more
Director Alexander Sokurov's ("Mother and Son") audacious cinematic tour-de-force follows an unseen narrator who magically finds himself transported t... Read more