Stepan Oleksenko

The Black Council gives a vivid picture of the different levels of society in seventeenth-century Ukraine. The main theme is the need for people to be motivated by high ideals as they engage in the struggle of truth with injustice.

On the way to Partisans camp Sgt. Tsybulya suddenly lands in the middle of German troops. Now he must find a way to return to the Red Army.

The action of the epic film takes place in the second half of World War II. The plot focuses on the liberation of European countries from German occupation and the anti-fascist activities of the communist parties of these countries. After the victory at Stalingrad, a decisive turn occurred during the war. The main aim is the rallying of all patriotic forces, the creation of a national anti-fascist front in the struggling countries. The swift offensive of the Soviet troops, problems with the opening of a second front, major operations and the offensive of the Soviet army lead to the liberation of Europe. Rebellions are rising in different countries - such as the heroic uprising in Warsaw, in Slovenia, Bucharest and other cities. Brave heroes who performed immortal feats in the name of the happiness of mankind and freedom.

A story about a heroic nurse working for Soviet Intelligence during and after WWII.

Shakespeare's 17th century masterpiece about the "Melancholy Dane" was given one of its best screen treatments by Soviet director Grigori Kozintsev. Kozintsev's Elsinore was a real castle in Estonia, utilized metaphorically as the "stone prison" of the mind wherein Hamlet must confine himself in order to avenge his father's death. Hamlet himself is portrayed (by Innokenti Smoktunovsky) as the sole sensitive intellectual in a world made up of debauchers and revellers. Several of Kozintsev directorial choices seem deliberately calculated to inflame the purists: Hamlet's delivers his "To be or not to be" soliloquy with his back to the camera, allowing the audience to fill in its own interpretations.