Best Russian documentary movies

Intro (2016)

After the death of her son Julia seemed to be frozen. I can not regain consciousness. But she believes in a new meeting with the one she lost.

Haulout (2024)

On a remote coast of the Russian Arctic in a wind-battered hut, a lonely man waits to witness an ancient gathering. But warming seas and rising temperatures bring an unexpected change, and he soon finds himself overwhelmed.

Genius. A Night for Ray Charles (2004)

A meld of legendary performers and contemporary artists of today who have been influenced by Ray's music perform in this concert extravaganza.

Putin's Palace: History of World's Largest Bribe (2021)

After surviving poisoning by a Novichok nerve agent, Alexey Navalny made his most important film. Putin's Palace: History of World's Largest Bribe is about the palace near Gelendzhik that presumably belongs to Russian President Vladimir Putin. It also shows vineyards, corruption schemes and more.

Fall (2022)

An Ural city of Nizhniy Tagil. Summer is over and a ten years old Vadim is moving to a new district and attends a new school. The last warm days of September. Vadim is making his way through the fading rays of the autumn sun.

Don't Call Him Dimon (2017)

A 2017 Russian documentary film about alleged corruption by Prime Minister of Russia Dmitry Medvedev. The film claims that Dmitry Medvedev has embezzled an estimated $1.2 billion.

Andrey Tarkovsky. A Cinema Prayer (2019)

An account of the life and work of Russian filmmaker Andrey Tarkovsky (1932-86) in his own words: his memories, his vision of art and his reflections on the fate of the artist and the meaning of human existence; through extremely rare audio recordings that allow a complete understanding of his inner life and the mysterious world existing behind his complex cinematic imagery.

The Tram Goes to the Front (2021)

For the besieged Leningrad, the primary need was bread. But it was equally important to ensure the smooth operation of transport communications. In order for the city to live, people had to go to the factories, soldiers - to the front; it was necessary to transport a huge amount of cargo… The most indispensable transport was the tram.

Crocus / Strelka (2010)

In September Zemfira organized a mini-tour in honor of the re-release of the first three albums. Solo performance at the Moscow concert hall "Crocus City Hall", September 17, 2010.

Khodorkovsky (2011)

Khodorkovsky, the richest Russian, challenges President Putin. A fight of the titans begins. Putin warns him. But Khodorkovsky comes back to Russia knowing that he will be imprisoned, once he returns. When I heard about it, I asked myself: why didn't he stay in exile with a couple of billions? Why did he do that? A personal journey to Khodorkovsky.

Green Theatre in Zemfira (2008)

Full-length musical film, built on footage of the concert Zemfira in the Green Theatre of Gorky Park of the city of Moscow

БесогонTV «Если папа – коррупция, а мама – двуличие, какой у них будет ребенок?» (2021)

Artem & Eva (2023)

Artem loves Yulia, Yulia loves Artem. They recently graduated from school, moved to Moscow and began an independent life. In search of part-time jobs, Artem comes up with the idea of creating another image from Yulia - Eva Elfie - and making an amateur video for Pornhub. Suddenly, the video becomes popular, Eva gets more and more job offers, and Artem becomes the boyfriend and producer of a world celebrity. The heroes seem to fall into the "American dream", but in their personal lives there are more and more problems and doubts.

The Great Northern Way (2019)

With the participation of Fyodor Konyukhov. An extreme and beautiful route in the Russian Arctic. A path of ten thousand kilometers through the harsh lands of the North. For the first time in modern history, the legendary route of Semyon Dezhnev, the great Russian Explorer of Northern and Eastern Siberia of the 17th century, was explored and filmed in a unique visual diary of hard-to-reach places that nobody had seen before. The most picturesque and inaccessible places in Russia, from Arkhangelsk to Chukotka, are now closer thanks to the film.

Enter Shikari: Further East (2019)

Enter Shikari Russia Tour Documentary

Brexitannia (2017)

A sociological portrait of the United Kingdom after the historic Brexit vote of 2016. A funny, sometimes terrifying and non-judgemental look at the new populist politics sweeping western democracies.

Born to Be Free (2017)

BORN TO BE FREE is a revelatory investigation by three intrepid free-diving journalists, Gaya, Tanya and Julia, into the global trade in wild sea mammals. Their journey takes us to the most remote corners of Russia and witnesses, for the very first time, the shocking treatment that whales, dolphins and walruses are subjected to and discovers the corruption at the heart of this cruel international business.

I Don't Believe in Anarchy (2014)

The film details the early years of the legendary Siberian Punk/Rock group 'Гражданская Оборона' (Grazhdanskaya Oborona), and its frontman, Egor Letov.

Box of Matches (2020)

The Association of DJs of Flammable Beats — these are the people who made soul, funk and hip-hop familiar at Moscow parties: for 20 years, they systematically educated the public, offering an alternative to a straight barrel. "Box of Matches" tells about the times when broken rhythms were not yet mainstream, and immerses us in the current life of each of the characters, interrupted by musical pauses.

Russian death (2019)

What is the Russian death? Author of the film walking at different cemeteries and search answer at this question.

Catastrophe (2016)

The Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power station is the most powerful in Russia and the sixth most powerful in the world. It was built during the Soviet Union, from 1963 to 1978 on the Yenisei River in Siberia. In 2009, one of the world's largest man-made disasters occurred at the hydroelectric power station, which claimed the lives of 75 people. It took five years and 40 billion rubles to resume operation of the station. And although the exact cause of the accident has not yet been established, the engineers accused of the accident have been jailed. The accident showed that the Soviet legacy is still firmly in the minds of people, many of whom live in the past and are afraid of the future. The wear and tear of equipment, the backwardness of technology, corruption, a corrupt court, and propaganda based on the cult of "back to the USSR" portend new man-made disasters…

Froth (2019)

From the Barents Sea, a chill wind seems to blow constantly across a semi-deserted town at the edge of the world. Nevertheless, a little community holds out here. In a flawlessly filmed portrait of this extraordinary place, the theme linking the residents is their determination to chart their own course. Bardak was a marine, but his garrison broke up and his comrades sought a better life elsewhere. He stayed behind among the many empty buildings that are slowly but surely being consumed by the elements. Meanwhile, Dima, a young poacher​, flouts as many rules as he can, but gives friendly directions to lost tourists and reads lovingly to his little daughter. Ferryman Alexander is locked in a silent generational battle with his teenage daughter Masha; her eyes are on the outside world. Further along, a little team of ships from the Second World War turns up, and a woman steadfastly runs a weather station.

Strange Particles (2015)

A quantum physicist teaches students at the university summer camp.

Слово пацана. Кровь на асфальте. Фильм о фильме (2024)

Revive the spirit of the times, fall in love with the characters, think through every detail, from coats to dances - and all this is not in vain. The result of the work brought dozens of awards, record views and sincere emotions of millions of viewers. It's time to return to the set and remember how the atmosphere of the late 80s came to life on screen. Screenwriter Andrei Zolotarev, director Zhora Kryzhovnikov, producer Fyodor Bondarchuk, new stars Leon Kemstach and Anna Peresild, together with experienced actors - from Ivan Yankovsky to Sergei Burunov - will reveal the main secrets of working on the event series. And they will honestly share their feelings about what happened after the premiere.

Secrets of the Third Reich II: Nazi «UFO» Bases in Antarctica (0)

This Mad, Mad, Mad "Russian World" (2018)

Using the example of Georgia, the film's authors explore various historical and contemporary events related to Russia's aggressive foreign policy with respect to neighboring (and not only!) Countries, trying to understand their causes and answer difficult questions. What is the fundamental difference between the Russian world and Western civilization? What were and are the methods and tools of Russian politics? What influence does foreign policy have on domestic, in particular, on a person’s position, his fundamental rights and freedoms?

Papa Srapa (2020)

Papa Srapa is the main shaman of the Russian avant-garde sound. Noise musician known for his insane, mind-blowing noise performances. An artist and inventor who creates completely unpredictable synthesizers, each of which is a unique object of art. Surprisingly, it is the USSR that is the birthplace of industrial music. Back in the 1920s, Dziga Vertov recorded musical compositions from the sounds of a sawmill, and Arseny Avraamov created a symphony entirely consisting of the sounds of the city: factory whistles, whistling steam and the sounds of aircraft. With this film, we want to introduce to the world a modern representative of a century-old underground tradition who has dedicated his life to noise, performance and synthesis.

Philosophy Of a Knife (2008)

The true history of Japanese Unit 731, from its beginnings in the 1930s to its demise in 1945, and the subsequent trials in Khabarovsk, USSR, of many of the Japanese doctors from Unit 731. The facts are told, and previously unknown evidence is revealed by an eyewitness to these events, former doctor and military translator, Anatoly Protasov.

Brodsky Is Not a Poet (2016)

Fellow poets, excited ladies, the love of his life, Marina Basmanova, two psychiatric hospitals, KGB interrogations, a People's Court, prison, exile, forced emigration. All of this was Brodsky's Leningrad. The biography, which was written for, in Akhmatova's words, "our red-head". On the fourth of June 1972, when the plane carrying Brodsky took off from Pulkovo airport, this biography ended. And a new life began that almost no one in his homeland is aware of. Russia, America, Italy, Sweden, Finland - the filmmakers have traced the journey of their hero, perhaps the most well-traveled of all Russian writers. The places, that became his biography. And the people, that defined his fate.

Crimean Bridge. Stolen with Love! (2020)

A documentary investigation by Alexei Navalny and the Anti-Corruption Foundation about corruption and "theft" of Margarita Simonyan and Tigran Keosayan during the filming of the film "Crimean Bridge. Made with Love!"