Russia

In fifteen linked chapters shot in locations ranging from Moscow to New York to Istanbul, Counting merges city symphony, diary film, and personal/political essay to create a vivid portrait of contemporary life.

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.

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.

The tumultuous history of Afghanistan from the perspective of the country's female population, Afghan Women: A History of Struggle chronicles the stories of women who have risked their lives to achieve political, economic, and social equality.

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.

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.

Under Fire captures powerful first-person accounts by five decorated Soviet women as they describe stepping into a man’s world and fighting amid blood and death.

Kasimir Malevich (1878-1935), a Russian painter best known for his founding in 1913 of the Suprematism movement, is one of the founding fathers of the avant-garde. This video portrays the vision of this innovative artist whose aesthetic ideas revolutionized customary perceptions of the fine arts.

This cinéma-vérité documentary, shot in high definition video, follows seven Russian teenagers who came to America to become country music stars.