2008
UK, Russia
Format: full-length feature film
Genre: drama, history
Screenwriters: Natalya Portnova, Simon van der Borgh
Director: Tom Roberts
Starring: Vera Farmiga, Thomas Kretschmann, John Malkovich, Daniel Brühl, Natalie Press, Ingeborga Dapkunaite, Thekla Reuten, Evgeny Mironov, Beverly Hotsprings, Tatyana Yakovenko
The film tells of how, at the end of WWII, a group of German POWs are mistakenly sent to a Soviet female transit prison camp, from which prisoners are sent to the GULAG. Surrounded by Soviet women – both prisoners and guards – the Germans are forced into relationships with the ‘weaker sex’, many of whom are openly hostile. But gradually the forces of nature win through and the former enemies begin to demonstrate human qualities towards each other: empathy, a desire for justice, freedom and love…
