Returning home to his collective in Ukraine, Klim is surprised to find his beloved Mariana is now an ace tractor driver with many male admirers. His only recourse is to take up tractor driving, too, so he and Mariana can reconnect. With music by Dmitry Pokrass, Tractor Drivers was the model for many girl-boy-tractor romances and the object of innumerable parodies. “A fascinating work that combines three Soviet obsessions of the 1930s: musicals, the glorification of technology, and preparations for an impending war.”—Richard Pena (Ivan Pyryev, 1939, Russian with subtitles, 35 mm, 88 minutes)

Heading home through the Central Asian desert, members of a thirteen-person patrol are harassed by a horde of marauding bandits. One of the earliest of the frontier adventure films known as “Easterns” (this one was seemingly fashioned after John Ford's The Lost Patrol), The Thirteen remains an excellent example of the genre. (Mikhail Romm, 1936, Russian with subtitles, 35 mm, 87 minutes)

“Little known even inside Russia, The New Moscow is an eye-popping amalgamation of country comedy, musical romance, and science fiction. A young designer working in Siberia comes up with a model that will allow the world to see how the capital city will appear in a future imagined by Stalin. He sets off for Moscow and is quickly overwhelmed by the city's energy, enormity, and then-brand-new subway .… Director Medvedkin's mixing of popular culture and avant-garde technique recalls an earlier period of Soviet life and politics, even as the film envisions an impossibly bright, technologically advanced future for all.” — Richard Pena (Aleksandr Medvedkin, 1938, Russian with subtitles, 35 mm, 80 minutes)

Journalist Smith (Vsevolod Aksyonov), back in the States after assignment in the Soviet Union, turns down a lucrative offer from a wealthy publisher to write a book condemning the Russian way of life. Smith is subsequently hit with a campaign of slander so convincing that even his wife thinks him a traitor. Vintage Cold War propaganda of the Stalinist era, the film's set-designed America is spectacular, even if wildly askew. (Mikhail Romm, 1947, Russian with subtitles, 35 mm, 91 minutes)

“Some of the first cracks in the brick wall of Stalinist culture were caused by this witty comedy that transformed director Eldar Ryazanov and young star Lyudmila Gurchenko into overnight celebrities. New Year’s Eve is fast approaching and the employees of the Economics Institute are planning a big night, with lots of dancing and holiday cheer. New boss, Comrade Ogurtsov (Igor Ilyinsky), has his own ideas, however, about how to properly ring in the New Year: end-of-the-year reports, and maybe a speech or two…. Still a great Russian favorite (it is always broadcast during the holiday season) Carnival Night is a delicious send-up of bureaucracy, and a genuine celebration of people’s power.”—Richard Pena (Eldar Ryazanov, 1956, Russian with subtitles, 35 mm, 78 minutes)

Lovers Tatiana Samoilova and Alexei Batalov stroll through quiet Moscow streets as cranes fly overhead. The year is 1941, however, and war brings death, rape, desertion, draft-dodging, and black-marketeering—topics decidedly taboo during the Stalinist years. Filmed by director Mikhail Kalatozov and photographer Sergei Urushevsky using equally taboo techniques (helicopter and crane shots, crowd scenes, and endless takes) this first postwar Soviet film to attain wide commercial release in the West also won the Cannes Festival Palme d'Or. (Mikhail Kalatozov, 1957, Russian with subtitles, 35 mm, 97 minutes)

Hundreds of miles from nowhere in forsaken Siberia, a team of geologists (Russian superstars Innokenty Smoktunovsky, Tatiana Samoilovna, and Vasili Livanov among them) makes a diamond strike. As a harrowing man-against-wilderness epic, The Letter Never Sent is in a class by itself—the hair-raising highlight is a fast tracking shot through a forest fire, with flames seemingly inches from lens and actors. (Mikhail Kalatozov, 1959, Russian with subtitles, 35 mm, 97 minutes)

Appealing characters and radiant location cinematography lend an aura of optimism to this spirited 1960s classic scripted by legendary Soviet poet Gennady Shpalikov. Young construction worker Kolya (Nikita Mikhalkov) tries to help his new friend Volodya, a would-be novelist from Siberia, newly arrived in the capital city. (Georgi Daneliya, 1963, 35 mm, Russian with subtitles, 78 minutes)

Gifted music student Konstantin is expelled from the academy for challenging the official notion that jazz is an expression of degenerate capitalism. He decides to take to the streets, where he finds many other jazz lovers willing to defend their favorite music. An homage to the early days of jazz in Russia, the film showcases some wonderful performers. (Karen Shakhnazarov, 1983, 35 mm, Russian with subtitles, 88 minutes)

Chekhov's masterwork about the breakdown of a family held together by lies and self-deceptions is brought to life in Konchalovsky's brilliant screen adaptation, arguably the best ever. The first-rate cast includes Innokenti Smoktunovsky as Vanya, Irina Miroshnichenko as Yelena, and Sergei Bondarchuk as Astrov. (Andrei Konchalovsky, 1970, 35 mm, Russian with subtitles, 104 minutes)

Russian partisans struggle with German invaders in the midst of ice-bound World War II landscapes. Sacrifice and betrayal are the recurring leitmotifs, underscored by overt Christian imagery, in Larissa Shepitko's masterpiece, the final work in her all too brief career. (Larisa Shepitko, 1976, 35 mm, Russian with subtitles, 110 minutes)

A compelling picture of Moscow in the 1960s, July Rain's period feel is enhanced by the soundtrack featuring the music of Russian bard Yuri Vizbor (Vizbor also plays a key role). "A kind of Soviet Masculin feminin. . . like the French New Wave, the Soviet cinema delivered a bold mix of documentary and fiction, making it an invaluable record of its moment."—Richard Pena. (Marlen Khutsiyev, 1966, 35 mm, Russian with subtitles, 106 minutes)

Adapted from a novel by Karen Shakhnazarov (the current head of Mosfilm), Courier was one of the first films to examine daily life during the perestroika period. As a teenager, young Ivan fails his entrance exams for the higher education institute, lands a job as an office courier, meets Katya, and envisions a completely different future. "Perhaps the most surprising thing about this fine film is how little it has dated."—James van Maanen. (Karen Shakhnazarov, 1986, 35 mm, Russian with subtitles, 88 minutes)