Eastern Europe

A retired teacher in Serbian province, devotedly monitors elections believing that all individuals could and should make a difference in building democracy.

2015 Academy Award Nominee for Best Documentary Short Subject, Joanna is a tender and heartbreaking portrait of a young wife and mother facing terminal cancer who, wishing to leave something behind for her eight-year-old son, begins writing an online journal that resonates with and becomes embraced by millions of devoted readers.

What is the job of a diplomat for a country that does not exist? With this question, acclaimed filmmaker Eric Baudelaire initiates a wide-ranging correspondence with his friend Maxim Gvinjia, former Minister of Foreign Affairs for Abkhazia, a country with physical borders, a government, and its own flag, but has not been recognized as a nation.

A deluxe collector"s set featuring three early masterworks by visionary Russian filmmaker Alexander Sokurov (Russian Ark, Alexandra) in newly translated and restored director"s cuts: Whispering Pages (70 min), a brooding, beautiful film inspired by nineteenth-century Russian literature, primarily Dostoevsky"s "Crime and Punishment"; Stone (79 min), a mysterious fable about a young night watchman"s encounter with the ghost of Chekhov; and Save and Protect (133 min), a visually sumptuous adaptation of Flaubert"s "Madame Bovary".

Directed by acclaimed filmmaker Sergei Loznitsa, Maidan chronicles the civil uprising that toppled the government of Ukrainian president Victor Yanukovich and has since developed into an international crisis. Filmed in stunning long takes, sans commentary, Maidan is a record of a momentous historical event and an extraordinary study of the popular uprising as a social, cultural and philosophical phenomenon.

Winner of multiple awards, The Woman with the Five Elephants unravels the mystery behind the life and work of the world's greatest translator of Russian literature. A poetic, precise and revelatory investigation into language, meaning, and the tides of history.

The incredible story of how a treasure trove of banned Soviet art worth millions of dollars was found in the desert of Uzbekistan develops into a larger exploration of how art survives in times of oppression. A fascinating documentary about a group of visionary artists and one man who risked his life to rescue their work.

On a small island in central Russia, inside a former monastery converted into a high security prison, inmate Boris Bezotechestvo is serving a life sentence in solitary confinement. This startling documentary chronicles one day in his life, advancing a complex and troubling assessment of crime and punishment.

What is it like to have God-like surgical powers, yet to struggle against your own humanity? This film follows a renowned brain surgeon to Eastern Europe as he confronts an under-funded healthcare system and the dilemmas of the doctor-patient relationship. Original soundtrack by Nick Cave.

Is the small village of Durakovo - where residents unquestioningly obey a self-appointed leader - a microcosm of Russia today? For God, Tsar and the Fatherland deftly explores what drives the current strain of Russian patriotism, and why many of the country's citizens oppose Western-style democracy.

The recent history of Abkhazia - a breakaway republic in Georgia, like South Ossetia - is told through the story of a once-renowned scientific institute struggling to survive after the disintegration of the Soviet Union. It's a far different perspective on the Russia-Georgia crisis than what's reported on CNN.

An in-depth look at Ukraine's historic Orange Revolution. Assembled from over 300 hours of original footage and archival materials, featuring penetrating interviews with key players, this documentary chronicles one of the most successful non-violent revolutions in decades.

A magical portrait of Russia's revolutionary artistic avant-garde - Mayakovsky, Voloshin, Blok, Malevich, Tatlin - through the life of Sonia Dymshitz-Tolstaya, an impassioned artist whose life reflected the social upheavals of her time. She was one of the few Jewish women who became part of this inner circle.

Begun nearly two years before his death, this fascinating documentary offers a meticulous account of the life and final days of ex-FSB agent Alexander Litvinenko, who died of radiation poisoning in November 2006. In the process, it provides extraordinary insight into the current political climate in Russia.

A beautiful and poetic film about the last remaining Jews in Birobidzhan, the world's first Jewish autonomous region, established in a distant corner of Siberia in the 1920s.

This striking documentary reveals the incredible story behind the greatest bank robbery that ever occurred in a Communist state - a tale of disillusionment, resistance, government propaganda, and Jewish life behind the iron curtain.

In a sleepy Hungarian village, after the First World War, a series of arsenic murders took place. Over 140 bodies were discovered. The victims, all men, were apparently killed by their wives.

A poetic journey into the groundbreaking theories of Russian scientist Igor Novikov, renowned for his work in astrophysics and amazing theories on the concept of time.

Carpati: 50 Miles 50 Years focuses on Zev Godinger, a Jewish ice cream man of the Carpathian Mountains, a self-described "proste" (ordinary) Jew who embarks on a symbolic pilgrimage to his hometown.