A Journey to the Gulag

The Gulag Archipelago: The Book That Changed Russian History(fr)

The story of Russian writer and Soviet dissident Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (1918-2008) and his masterpiece, The Gulag Archipelago, published in Paris in 1973, which forever shook the very foundations of communist ideology.

Stalin: Man of Steel(en)

Emmy Awards nominee for "Outstanding Individual Achievement in a Craft: Research: Multi-faceted portrait of the man who succeeded Lenin as the head of the Soviet Union. With a captivating blend of period documents, newly-released information, newsreel and archival footage and interviews with experts, the program examines his rise to power, deconstructs the cult of personality that helped him maintain an iron grip over his vast empire, and analyzes the policies he introduced, including the deadly expansion of the notorious gulags where he banished so many of his countrymen to certain death.

Gulag(en)

Documentary examining Stalin's Gulag. Between the October Revolution and Stalin's death in 1953, millions of people died in the camps. The film explores the Gulag legacy, hearing from victims and perpetrators of the system.

Frosia, une femme libre au Goulag(fr)

Women of the Gulag(ru)

Through unique and candid interviews the film tells the compelling and tragic stories of the six women – last survivors of the Gulag, the brutal system of repression and terror that devastated the Soviet population during the regime of Stalin.

Gulag(fr)

This excellent and breathtaking documentary is the result of a long study on the Gulag to try to understand why more than 60 million Soviet citizens were sent to the camps from 1918 to 1956, how such a massive confinement could take place during two generations. From the Solovki in the north-west to the Kolima in Siberia, from Lenine to Kroutchev, a polar geography is erected into the Gulag system. One does not escape from camps. After ten years of imprisonment, one dies. Some survived, some left traces; they witness: organisation, work and discipline, but also resistance, repression and revolt.

East of Paradise(en)

Filmmaker Lech Kowalski explores his belief that struggle is "the epitome of living" in this documentary which compares the wildly different life experiences of himself and his mother. Kowalski's mother came of age in Poland during the early stages of World War II, and after failed attempts to outrun both Nazi and Russian forces she and her family were sent to a Soviet concentration camp, where inmates were tortured, mistreated, and starved to the point where some ate their own lice in a desperate struggle to survive. Kowalski also depicts his own self-inflicted season in hell during his years on the New York City punk rock scene as he wallowed in the sordid underbelly of drug addiction, pornography, prostitution, and streetwise decadence. On both stories, Kowalski finds a message of hope and strength in the midst of almost certain peril.

Cannibal Island(fr)

A disturbing chapter in Russian history is explored in this documentary. In 1933, Joseph Stalin sent 6000 "unwanted" citizens of Moscow and Leningrad to a desolate Siberian island - with no food or clothes to speak of. Decades later this documentary returns to the island.

The Forgotten Soldier(hu)

Captured by the Red Army during World War II, Hungarian soldier András Toma was admitted to a Soviet psychiatric hospital. After disappearing from prisoner-of-war records, he was presumed dead in Hungary. Because his name was incorrectly recorded in medical documents and he spoke only Hungarian—mistaken by staff for incoherent speech—Toma spent decades misunderstood and isolated in the institution. Fifty-three years later, a visiting Slovak doctor recognised his language, triggering an investigation by Hungarian authorities. Toma was repatriated in 2000, believed to be the last prisoner of war from World War II to return home.

Where We Disappear(en)

A story of survival about a woman's first night in a Soviet prison camp. After committing a crime to protect her son, Anastasia is sentenced to 12 years in a Soviet prison camp. Her arrival upsets the balance between the inmates. In a night of backstabbing and shifting alliances, she must find a way to escape and discover the hidden truth of her survival.

The Way Back(en)

A small band of multicultural convicts stages a daring escape from a WWII-era Siberian gulag, and embarks on a treacherous journey across five countries in a desperate race for freedom and survival.

The Cold Summer of 1953(ru)

In 1953, the year Stalin died, many prisoners (some political, but mostly common criminals) were released from the Soviet Gulags. This is the story of a remote settlement which was under attack by a bunch of these recently-released blood-thirsty thugs in the summer of 1953, and the townspeople, along with a two political prisoners, who try to stop them.

Muppets Most Wanted(en)

While on a grand world tour, The Muppets find themselves wrapped into an European jewel-heist caper headed by a Kermit the Frog look-alike and his dastardly sidekick.

Embajadores en el infierno(es)

Four Spanish Blue Division soldiers captured after the German invasion of Soviet territory face a choice in forced labor camps: renounce their Spanish nationality for better conditions. While two accept, Captain Adrados leads a group resisting, labeling those who comply as traitors, showcasing a struggle for loyalty to Franco's values.

Little Vilma: The Last Diary(hu)

The movie is inspired by writer-director Márta Mészáros' own childhood. The film is a grim reminder of horrible days under Stalinist period when several innocent people were persecuted for no fault. A good film which allow people to know how people in Europe were tortured before second world war by dictators and authoritarian regimes.

GULAG -THE MOVIE-(es)

The Forgotten Shadows(fr)

A film based on the event of the first three seasons of of the series "Stranger Things" Season 3. Early Winter, 1985. Presumed dead by the world, Jim Hopper finds himself trapped in a secret gulag, the Pot’ma Camp. Haunted by visions of his past, Hopper struggles to survive days after days in the camp. Until Dmitri Antonov, a guard also tormented by his own demons, offers him a chance to escape.

Hako(sr)

On the territory of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in the whirlwind of the Second World War, in 1943, in Pešter (Serbia), the majority Muslim population lived with the minority Orthodox. A small part of the Muslim population joined the Gestapo and supported the Germans. They decided to attack the Orthodox village of Buđevo together and burn it to the ground. Although most Muslims were against it, it happened anyway. The strongest opponent to this was Hako Duljević, an honorable man from the Pešter village of Međugor. He saved the girl Ratomirka Minić from certain death, taking her to safety in the village of Doliće. Ultimately, she reunited with her parents and lived a ripe old age. The Germans didn't forgive Hako and shot him in the back. That truth did not come to light for eighty years, and his family still suffers, especially his grandson named after him.

Nine Inch Nails: Closure(en)

Closure is the 12th official Nine Inch Nails release. It consists of music videos interspersed with snippets from educational films, as well as exclusive footage shot by Peter Christopherson including antics by Nine Inch Nails and their tour guests: Marilyn Manson, Jim Rose Circus and David Bowie. Originally scheduled to be released on DVD in 2004, the disc appeared on internet torrent sites in 2006, including behind-the-scenes footage of the "Closer" video with commentary by Mark Romanek. Fans speculate that Reznor may have been the source of this leak.

Urospredere(no)

Urospredere is a Norwegian documentary on filesharing, with focus on how filesharing could be made legal, which changes would be necessary and how it would work.