Kalatozov Fund

The career of revered Russian filmmaker Mikhail Kalatozov is explored in this documentary film comprised of rare behind-the-scenes footage, interviews with French director Claude Lelouch, and conversations with some of the biggest names in contemporary Russian cinema. Kalatozov's grandson Mikhail Kalatozishvili pays tribute to the director of such timeless classics as I Am Cuba, Salt for Svanetia, and The Cranes are Flying as such notable fans as Andrei Konchalovsky, Sergei Solovyov, and Alexei Batalov discuss the remarkable influence Kalatozov had on their own film careers.

The film is based on the true story of Captain Marinesku and set in 1944 during WWII at the Russian Navy Base. Young and beautiful Tanka is in love with Aleksandr Marinin, the brave Captain of the Russian submarine. He is under the KGB surveillance, and his life is at risk. He takes his boat to fight the Nazi fleet, and he cannot come back home without a victory.

A mother is informed that her only son, who is serving in a military combat zone, has gone missing in action. A soldier who served alongside her son soon arrives to confirm that he has probably been killed. Nothing interrupts the everyday course of events. After a short while, the mother notices a homeless boy - an immigrant worker with an injured hand. She takes him in, but doesn’t realize that in some way she has decided the fate of her son, who is actually about to return home.

A young girl dreaming to become an actress goes through hell with an orphan baby on her hands. The whole world seems to be against her. She meets the love of her life when there is no one to stand by her.

This extraordinary documentary illuminates the genius behind some of the most exquisite images ever set to celluloid by filmmaker Mikhaïl Kalatozov. An insightful account of a reserved man who paradoxically created rapturous, expressive cinema. Colleagues and historians, including Claudia Cardinale, describe the complicated way that Kalatozov made such radical works within the restrictions of film-making in the Soviet state.