Russian History & Culture DVDs

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Item Code: FI-D068

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 #2564 Lenin According to Lenin
 #738 One Word of Truth(+$20)
 #786 Red Dawn(+$20)
 #789 Red Tsar(+$20)
 #2274 Trotsky(+$20)
 #2560 From Marx to World Revolution(+$20)
 #2811 Red Hot(+$20)
 #2813 Them and Us(+$20)
 #2814 The Wall(+$20)
 #2815 Face-to-Face(+$20)
 #4238 Lenin's Funeral(+$20)
 #4360 Children of Perestroika(+$20)
 #9380 Peter the Great(+$20)
 #2589 The October 1917 Revolution and After(+$60)
 #2590 Lenin and His Legacy(+$60)
 #6857 Privatizing Soviet Collective Farms(+$60)
 #11025 Boris Yeltsin: A Legacy of Change(+$60)
 #11033 Russian Revolutions: Sex, Lies, and Nuclear Weapons(+$60)
 #11034 Russian Revolutions: The Heavy Hand of Corruption(+$60)
 #11128 Eisenstein and Stalin: When Art and Politics Clash(+$60)
 #35350 Reign of Terror: An Interview with Shamil Basayev(+$60)
 #36146 Beslan: Siege of School No. 1(+$60)
 #36334 Greetings from Grozny: Inside the Chechen Conflict(+$60)
 #37312 Comrade Kamprad: IKEA Goes to Russia(+$60)
 #2457 Peter the Great(+$80)
 #6822 Post-Soviet Russia: Promises Deferred(+$80)
 #7277 Soviet Disunion: Ten Years That Shook the World(+$80)
 #8966 A Very Russian Coup: The Demise of Communism(+$80)
 #10074 Stalin: The Red God(+$80)
 #10950 Russian Avant-Garde: A Romance with the Revolution(+$80)
 #30498 Ivan the Terrible(+$80)
 #35505 American Imperialists: Soviet Animation vs. the United States(+$80)
 #35507 Capitalist Sharks: Soviet Animation vs. Greed and Ambition(+$80)
 #35508 Onward to the Shining Future: Animation and the Big Soviet Lie(+$80)
 #38702 The People's Revolution(+$80)
 #38703 Lenin's Revolution(+$80)
 #2563 The Life and Times of Josef Stalin(+$90)
 #36394 Our Own Private Bin Laden-Educator's Edition(+$90)
 #11032 Russia Today: Ten Years After the Fall of the Soviet Union(+$189.95)
 #38701 October 1917: Lenin's Story(+$229.95)
 #2810 Soviets: The True Story of Perestroika(+$379.8)

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Product Description:
#2564 Russian Studies - Lenin According to Lenin (Run time 60 min.) DVD $69.95

This program uses Lenin's own words to tell the story of the Bolchevik rise to power: the overthrow of the Tsar and of the Kerensky government, the efforts at world Communist revolutions and the readiness to compromise in order to save the revolution in the Soviet Union, the ascendancy of the struggle against socialism over the struggle against capitalism. Thus the program explains the political background of the establishment of the totalitarian Soviet state and of its economic, social, and cultural policies-the precise institutions and policies that would in our time cause the destruction of what Lenin created by the force of his single-minded personality, his political acuity, his powerful oratory...and the weaknesses of the divided democratic opposition. (60 minutes, b&w/color)


#738 Russian Studies - One Word of Truth (Run time min.) DVD $89.95

Alexander Solzhenitsyn's 1970 Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech is the text for this program, which exhorts viewers to shoulder their responsibilities as citizens-to fight untruth, injustice, and repression wherever they arise and before they become too powerful to overcome.Never delivered because he was not permitted to leave the Soviet Union in time, the speech is read by Solzhenitsyn in Russian (in the English version by actor Tom Courtenay). Using Solzhenitsyn's prison camp experience as a point of departure, the film moves rapidly outward to involve all of us-those who have suffered violence, and those who have allowed others to suffer."The world is overrun by the brazen conviction that force can do everything, while justice can do nothing," says the author. With governments and citizens subscribing to a double standard of justice-one for themselves and one for "the others," one for the rich and one for the poor, one for the powerful and one for the powerless-it becomes necessary for each of us to stand up and be counted. A Russian aphorism becomes the emblem of this message: "One word of truth outweighs the whole world." (29 minutes)


#786 Russian Studies - Red Dawn (Run time min.) DVD $89.95

This program shows the logic of the events that led from the failure of czarist leadership-from repression, economic unrest, massive war casualties, and seemingly uncaring behavior by the government-to the success of the Bolsheviks and the installation of Lenin. It covers the 300-year-old Romanov dynasty: ineffectual Nicholas, Alexandra with Rasputin; the events of March 1917; the abdication of the Czar and the new leadership: Kerensky, Trotsky, Lenin, Stalin; the rallying cries of Bolshevism; Lenin's seizure of power; the government of confidence, united leadership, and promises, and the reality of destitution, starvation, homelessness, and utter wretchedness. (20 minutes, b&w)


#789 Russian Studies - Red Tsar (Run time min.) DVD $89.95

This program explains the operation of the power structure of the Soviet Union after the Revolution and shows how Stalin, considered a mediocrity, succeeded Lenin and became the Soviet Man of Steel. It presents the historical facts surrounding the rise of Stalin; the creation of the Stalin hero cult; the relationship between the formal Russian government versus the Party; the functions of the Party Congress, the Central Committee, and the Politburo; the role of non-Russians, workers, and peasants; and profiles Lenin, Trotsky, Bukharov, Voroshilov, and Molotov. (20 minutes, b&w)


#2274 Russian Studies - Trotsky (Run time 58 min.) DVD $89.95

This documentary portrait of one of the key figures of the 20th century-Lenin's companion and Stalin's favorite target-uses nearly 1,500 hitherto unpublished photos and film clips to tell the story of Leon Trotsky's intellectual and political role in the birth of the Soviet Union; his leadership positions before, during, and after the Revolution; the death of Lenin and the exile of Trotsky; the Stalinization of the Soviet Union, the elimination of the opposition, and the trials of 1936; Trotsky's exile in Mexico; the Commission of Inquiry into Stalin's charges; and Trotsky's murder by an agent of the GPU. (58 minutes)


#2560 Russian Studies - From Marx to World Revolution (Run time 15 min.) DVD $89.95

"Workers of the world, unite!" was the call that issued from the Third International in Moscow in 1920-by which all the participants meant the workers of the industrialized West. Less than half a century later, the torch had passed to the Third World and to the peoples of color in China and Indochina, Africa, and Latin America. This program covers the revolutionary ground from the founding principles of Marx to the election of Salvador Allende in Chile, showing the changing strategies of Communism and the discovery that peasants could replace factory workers in fomenting revolution under the rallying cry of anti-imperialism. Thus the program shows both the goals and the techniques of the international Communist movement. (15 minutes, b&w/color)


#2811 Russian Studies - Red Hot (Run time 51 min.) DVD $89.95

This program includes richly emotional scenes of the survivors of the Armenian earthquake; interviews with angry workers in a Yaroslavl engine factory where one of the first strikes in decades took place; a visit to Chernobyl, where people are illegally returning to their homes in the still-radioactive zone around the nuclear reactor; and footage of the bloody unrest among the Mhesks in Uzbekistan. (51 minutes)


#2813 Russian Studies - Them and Us (Run time 53 min.) DVD $89.95

Young Afghan war veterans talk about life on the front line during the war in which 60,000 Soviet troops (the official number) died and many more were maimed. Now they demonstrate because they feel their sacrifices were not justified and not appreciated by Soviet society. The program also talks to other nonconformist groups-Latvian hippies, the literary admirers of the controversial novelist Bulgakov, and the sinister Pamyat (Memory) movement, whose leader mutters darkly against the Western press, the Masonic movement, against America. (53 minutes)


#2814 Russian Studies - The Wall (Run time 53 min.) DVD $89.95

The infamous Soviet bureaucracy continues to flourish. In Uzbekistan, a young Moslem bride attempts to fight corrupt officials to gain legal redress against her husband's accusation that she was not a virgin at marriage. Outside Leningrad, local people risk losing their jobs when they protest against the pollution caused by an artificial eggwhite factory. Boris Yeltsin also appears in this program, talking in a tone of amiable despair of a "hungry bureaucracy...like a huge wheel. The rust had to be removed. Somebody had to give the first push," he says. (53 minutes)


#2815 Russian Studies - Face-to-Face (Run time 53 min.) DVD $89.95

This program revisits the Baltic states to meet the leaders of the Latvian People's Front who are fighting to preserve their national identity. The program features an interview with the revolutionary leader of the Green Movement, filmed shortly before he felt compelled to leave the country for his own safety. The program concludes with footage of demonstrations, strikes, and riots, as the people take politics into their own hands. (53 minutes)


#4238 Russian Studies - Lenin's Funeral (Run time 52 min.) DVD $89.95

The title of this documentary is a double entendre that conveys the double meaning of the life and work, the struggle and political success, and the death and seemingly everlasting preservation of Lenin. His statues have been toppled, his mausoleum cannot be long in Red Square! The program examines both the political process of raising a god in a godless society, and the super-secret biological process of preserving a man under glass. (52 minutes)


#4360 Russian Studies - Children of Perestroika (Run time 35 min.) DVD $89.95

Children too have to deal with the consequences of the political upheaval in the former Soviet Union. This sad and charming documentary, which features children from the Siberian city of Kemerovo, shows how perestroika and glasnost have affected the children: the Pioneers, which used to have so much influence on their lives, has been disbanded; much of what they were taught has turned out to be untrue; scarcity and inflation have affected everyone. Even some of the children are nostalgic for the past. (35 minutes)


#9380 Russian Studies - Peter the Great (Run time 32 min.) DVD $89.95

Emperor of All the Russias, Peter the Great launched the transformation of his nation from a medieval society into a Western-style European power. Expert analysis by Professor Lindsay Hughes, of London University's School of Slavonic and Eastern Studies, and historian Dr. David Moon-plus lush dramatizations of Peter as a child and an adult-emphasizes his sweeping reforms in the areas of government, military science, industry, commerce, education, culture, and even religion. From Peter's fascination with all things Western, to his convoluted ascension to the throne, to his victory in the Great Northern War, this program neatly sums up the fascinating life of one of European history's most dynamic figures. (32 minutes)


#2589 Russian Studies - The October 1917 Revolution and After (Run time 26 min.) DVD $129.95

A documentary presentation of the events of the October Revolution, from the defeat of the czarist armies and famine in Russia, to the overthrow of Nicholas and the assumption of power by the Communists, drawn from Russian and Western newsreel footage and from the famous Soviet propaganda films that dramatized some of the events of the Revolution. The program also shows the effects of the Revolution in Western Europe: innocents and idealists cynically goaded and provoked to marches, protests, and strikes that were-inevitably-met with brutal repression. (26 minutes, b&w)


#2590 Russian Studies - Lenin and His Legacy (Run time 30 min.) DVD $129.95

This program traces the life and legacy of Lenin, the philosophical and political founding father of the Soviet Union, the starring actor as well as the writer and director of much of the drama from the earliest days of the Russian revolutionary movement. When the Bolsheviks came to power in 1917, Lenin became the President of the Council of People's Commissars and remained the active head of the Soviet government until his death in 1924. Using documentary footage dating back to 1896 (when Tsar Nicholas was crowned), the program shows prerevolutionary Russia, the Revolution, and the events after Lenin's death: the treason trials of the 1930s, World War II, the death of Stalin and many of his successors, Gorbachev's call for reforms, the successes and failures in Soviet ventures, and the shifts in domestic and foreign policy-all in the name of Lenin. (30 minutes, b&w/color)


#6857 Russian Studies - Privatizing Soviet Collective Farms (Run time 26 min.) DVD $129.95

In this timely documentary, the difficulties involved in Russia's attempt to privatize its collective farms are seen through the eyes of a young Canadian volunteer. Archival footage traces the brutal history of collectivization under Stalin in the 1920s. Interviews with a farmer opposed to the breakup of the collective outline the difficulties involved in reeducating farmers reared under Communism. A farmer who has prospered under privatization talks about the benefits of land ownership. This is a fascinating summary of the struggles facing post-Soviet Russia. (26 minutes)


#11025 Russian Studies - Boris Yeltsin: A Legacy of Change (Run time 87 min.) DVD $129.95

Boris Yeltsin dismantled the Soviet Union and destroyed the Communist Party-and then resigned before he could create a political party to continue his vision or build the institutions necessary for democracy. This intriguing program traces Yeltsin's climb to the top of the Communist Party and his personal power struggle with Mikhail Gorbachev. Interviews with opposition leaders as well as many of Yeltsin's top advisers, including Eduard Shevardnadze, Boris Nemtsov, and Yeltsin's wife, Naina, provide a candid appraisal of a man who changed the course of world history. (87 minutes)


#11033 Russian Studies - Russian Revolutions: Sex, Lies, and Nuclear Weapons (Run time 61 min.) DVD $129.95

In segment one of this program, ABC News anchor Ted Koppel reports on issues related to the new openness in Russia surrounding sexuality, including the growth of prostitution, resistance to contraception, and the spread of AIDS. In segment two, Koppel and correspondent John Donvan examine the ongoing controversy revolving around the political sellout of the independent Russian media. And in segment three, Koppel and Donvan analyze the impoverished and demoralized state of Russia's soldiery, tasked with fighting the Chechens and presiding over one of the largest nuclear arsenals in the world. (61 minutes)


#11034 Russian Studies - Russian Revolutions: The Heavy Hand of Corruption (Run time 71 min.) DVD $129.95

In segment one of this program, ABC News anchor Ted Koppel and correspondent John Donvan investigate the endemic nature of corruption in Russia, where bribery is commonplace and paying protection money is considered a business expense. In segment two, Koppel and billionaire Boris Berezovsky, identified as the unseen force behind Vladimir Putin's rise to power, discuss Berezovsky's recent foray into politics. And in segment three, after providing detailed background on Putin, Koppel interviews the man himself, touching upon his plans to fight corruption, his KGB affiliations, and his surprising sense of humor. (66 minutes)


#11128 Russian Studies - Eisenstein and Stalin: When Art and Politics Clash (Run time 60 min.) DVD $129.95

Drawing on sixty volumes of diaries and other recently revealed archival materials, this program presents the struggle between Joseph Stalin and Sergei Eisenstein, who fought for freedom of expression in a climate of exiles and executions. Rare clips of the preeminent Russian director's controversial films-including the deleted Trotsky scene in October, the original ending of The General Line, and recovered footage from the banned Bezhin Meadow-and interviews with the director of the Eisenstein Museum, friends, associates, and former students underscore the coercive power of Stalin's authoritarian regime. (60 minutes)


#35350 Russian Studies - Reign of Terror: An Interview with Shamil Basayev (Run time 24 min.) DVD $129.95

On July 28, 2005, ABC News sparked international controversy by broadcasting an interview with Shamil Basayev-the Chechen rebel leader some called Russia's Osama bin Laden. This is the interview in its entirety, conducted by Russian journalist Andrei Babitsky without any preparation or previously submitted questions. Over the course of the conversation, Basayev discusses his motivations for the Beslan school massacre, the takeover of the Dubrovka Theatre in Moscow, and other terrorist atrocities-as well as his expectations for the future, including his own fate. As documentation of the terrorist mind-set, this program has few equals. (24 minutes)


#36146 Russian Studies - Beslan: Siege of School No. 1 (Run time 57 min.) DVD $129.95

This Wide Angle report investigates the bloodiest act of terrorism in Russia since Chechnya declared its independence. Based on firsthand testimony and rare footage from inside the school, Beslan explores the motivation of the hostage-takers, the Russian government's failed effort to manage the crisis, and the calamity's legacy for survivors, bereaved families, and Russia's future stability. In addition, Bill Moyers speaks with The Washington Post's Peter Baker and Susan Glasser, co-authors of Kremlin Rising, about their actions on that tragic day and their views on the broader context of the incident. (57 minutes)


#36334 Russian Studies - Greetings from Grozny: Inside the Chechen Conflict (Run time 57 min.) DVD $129.95

Chechnya's war of independence has raged for years, but Americans rarely see the human face of the conflict. This Wide Angle report illuminates the ruined-yet still inhabited-cityscape of Grozny and its surrounding countryside, sifting through both Russian and Chechen perspectives on the ongoing clash. The program depicts Russian troops conducting "cleansing missions" through a rural Chechen village, visits a barely functioning university in the heart of the city, reveals life in a refugee tent city, and goes inside an active unit of Islamic Chechen fighters. Webs of special interest woven by the United States, Wahabist Muslims, and neighboring Georgia are also examined. In addition, anchor Daljit Dhaliwal talks with Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Ambassador Steven Pifer. (57 minutes)


#37312 Russian Studies - Comrade Kamprad: IKEA Goes to Russia (Run time 46 min.) DVD $129.95

The Vikings never conquered Russia, but Swedish mega-retailer IKEA might just pull it off. In this case, victory depends on sweet-talking, arm-twisting, and impromptu brainstorming-skills that company founder Ingvar Kamprad has perfected over a long life in business. This program follows Kamprad and a handful of colleagues during their 10-day trip across Moscow and more remote regions, revealing the political and logistical challenges that must be overcome to solidify a domestic supply chain and make IKEA Russia profitable. The result is both an illuminating international business case study and a remarkable profile of one of the world's richest, oldest, and most charismatic entrepreneurs. (Portions in other languages with English subtitles, 46 minutes)


#2457 Russian Studies - Peter the Great (Run time 33 min.) DVD $149.95

This program details the nature of the Swedish Empire in the 17th and beginning of the 18th centuries and draws a fascinating portrait of Charles XII. But the major part of the program is devoted to a portrait of the extraordinary and contradictory Tsar Peter the Great, the Oriental Russia into which he was born and the ways in which he turned Russia toward Europe, the problems he faced and the sometimes inventive and sometimes incredibly brutal ways in which he imposed solutions, the city he built, and the spirit he aroused-which is why he is considered the father of his country. It also tells of his conflict with Sweden and the Battle of Poltava. (33 minutes)


#6822 Russian Studies - Post-Soviet Russia: Promises Deferred (Run time 55 min.) DVD $149.95

This program examines how the Russian city of Gorky has adapted to a free-enterprise system. We see public reaction to the auction of government property and the opening of private markets. Class divisions become apparent in interviews with the Russian nouveau riche, the Mafia, and average citizens. Ordinary people, tired of waiting for economic benefits promised through privatization, support Communist political candidates who promise renewed state control and a return to traditional Russian values. The city is shown as being torn apart by violent tensions and antagonisms that exist between advocates of reform and neo-Communists. (With English subtitles, 55 minutes)


#7277 Russian Studies - Soviet Disunion: Ten Years That Shook the World (Run time 57 min.) DVD $149.95

This comprehensive ten-year history of Russia following glasnost and perestroika presents a dismal picture of a nation in disarray, battling with seemingly insurmountable economic, social, and political problems. Major topics include the election of Mikhail Gorbachev; dissolution of the gulag system; Boris Yeltsin's opposition to Gorbachev's initiatives; environmental legacies, including the disaster of Chernobyl; the break-away of the Baltic states; Gorbachev's arrest; the rise of Yeltsin; creation of the stock exchange; an explosion of crime; and decay of the military. Interviews with Gorbachev and with Russian officials Edvard Shevardnadze, Nikolai Ryzhkov, and former KGB chief General Oleg Kalougine provide insights into the causes and severity of the problems. Journalists and ordinary Russian citizens reveal both the hope and disillusionment of a proud but troubled nation struggling with its newfound identity. (57 minutes)


#8966 Russian Studies - A Very Russian Coup: The Demise of Communism (Run time 48 min.) DVD $149.95

Was it patriotism or treason that led Soviet military leaders to seize control of the government in August of 1991? This riveting program documents in detail the attempted takeover that marked a turning point in world history and resulted in the dissolution of the Communist Party. Marshal Yazov, the Minister of Defense; the Deputy Minister of Defense; and Boris Yeltsin's head of security candidly reveal their thoughts as co-conspirators. Compelling archival footage of the struggle that played out in the streets, plus additional interviews-a veritable who's who of the coup-round out the account of a moment in history when the eyes of the world were on Moscow. (48 minutes)


#10074 Russian Studies - Stalin: The Red God (Run time 62 min.) DVD $149.95

When atheistic Joseph Stalin assumed power, he put to use his training as a Russian Orthodox priest to redirect his people's devotional fervor and to cast himself as a secular god. Using eyewitness accounts, reenactments of key events in Stalin's life, and examples of Soviet film, art, music, and architecture, this provocative program demonstrates how Stalin ennobled communism and elevated it to the level of a state religion. Neo-Stalinists, nostalgic for their godlike leader, provide insights into how a terrifying dictatorship can ignite a devotion both deep and disturbing. (62 minutes)


#10950 Russian Studies - Russian Avant-Garde: A Romance with the Revolution (Run time 55 min.) DVD $149.95

This program documents the achievements of the Russian avant-garde movement and the impact of the Russian Revolution, which at first nurtured modern art as an emblem of communist culture and then banned it in favor of socialist realism. Set within the context of the life of the pivotal art critic Nikolai Punin, the key events of the Lenin/Stalin years and the contributions of major artists such as Malevich, Tatlin, and Filonov are described. Plentiful examples of paintings and sculptures plus period newsreel footage add a strong visual appeal to the story of a compelling period of both art and world history. (55 minutes)


#30498 Russian Studies - Ivan the Terrible (Run time 49 min.) DVD $149.95

His name conjures images of senseless brutality, yet in Russia, Ivan the Terrible is considered by many a national hero, even a man of God. Filmed entirely on location, this documentary presents a thorough biography of Russia's despot of contradictions. Also highlighted is how Stalin admired Ivan and saw in him a role model and useful symbol of the state. The program offers readings of Ivan's diary and letters, interviews with leading scholars, and extensive footage from Sergei Eisenstein's classic film-personally commissioned by Stalin-about Russia's first Czar. The Oprichniki, the dreaded brotherhood sworn to protecting Ivan, are seen as a precursor to Stalin's secret police. A BBC Production. (50 minutes)


#35505 Russian Studies - American Imperialists: Soviet Animation vs. the United States (Run time 106 min.) DVD $149.95

Racism, unemployment, aggression, excess-the USSR's animation studios frequently took aim at these aspects of American culture. Representing five decades of animated Soviet propaganda, this program features short films that blast the United States and its perceived evils. Black and White and Mister Twister extol the absence of bigotry in Soviet society, while Someone Else's Voice portrays jazz as an enemy of the people. Ave Maria condemns America's presence in Vietnam and the influence of the Catholic church, and The Shooting Range underscores the violence behind economic and class divisions. Seven films total, plus commentary from Russian State Film School professor Igor Kokarev, director/artist Vladimir Tarasov, and Dr. Sonia Marshak, great-granddaughter of the acclaimed Soviet poet. (106 minutes) Portions are in Russian with English subtitles.


#35507 Russian Studies - Capitalist Sharks: Soviet Animation vs. Greed and Ambition (Run time 121 min.) DVD $149.95

Just as America envisioned Communist threats during much of the 20th century, the specter of capitalism loomed large in the Soviet Cold War psyche. This program surveys Soviet animated propaganda embodying that fiercely anti-capitalist spirit. Foreshadowing the space race, Interplanetary Revolution depicts a Communist triumph over free-market forces on Mars; China in Flames warns against capitalist interference in the Chinese Revolution; The Shareholder proclaims the superiority of the Soviet economic system; and Proud Little Ship takes on capitalist aggression. Eight films total, plus commentary from Russian State Film School professor Igor Kokarev and director and animator Fyodor Khitruk. (121 minutes) Portions are in Russian with English subtitles.


#35508 Russian Studies - Onward to the Shining Future: Animation and the Big Soviet Lie (Run time 152 min.) DVD $149.95

Soviet film studios worked hard to portray their government's system as idyllic and forward-looking. This program showcases animated films designed to promote that utopian vision. Soviet Toys, the earliest known example of Soviet animation, condemns Lenin's New Economic Policy; The Victorious Destination celebrates the achievements of Stalin's first five-year plan; Samoyed Boy praises the Soviet educational system and the casting-off of antiquated traditions; and Hot Stone, Music Box, and Songs of the Years of Fire rejoice over the passing of Czarist imperialism and the establishment of a new, benevolent society. Eleven films total, plus commentary from Russian State Film School professor Igor Kokarev, political cartoonist Boris Yefimov, and director/animator Fyodor Khitruk. (152 minutes) Portions are in Russian with English subtitles.


#38702 Russian Studies - The People's Revolution (Run time 54 min.) DVD $149.95

Instigated in the name of the Russian people, the overthrow of Tsar Nicholas II was actually guided by moderates and aristocrats. What parallels can be drawn between the February and October Revolutions, and in what ways did the two events differ? Did the Tsar's ouster set the stage for Lenin's rise to power, or was it an attempt to stem the tide of true radicalism? This program provides answers as it sifts through the political and cultural origins of the Soviet system and the historical events leading up to Lenin's return from exile in April of 1917. Numerous expert interviews, as well as a dynamic tapestry of archival films, photographs, and documents, propel the sprawling narrative. Not available in French-speaking Canada. (54 minutes)


#38703 Russian Studies - Lenin's Revolution (Run time 54 min.) DVD $149.95

How did a single wayward intellectual become the father of the Soviet Union? This program examines the unlikely alignment of forces that enabled Lenin to return from exile and to take power over a vast nation fully engaged in a world war. With the help of rarely seen archival clips, photographs, and artworks, the film guides viewers through developments that anticipated the October Revolution, the milestones of the revolution itself, and the roles played by Kerensky, Gorky, Trotsky, and other allies and enemies of the Bolshevik government. Attention is also given to the uneasy and eventually doomed alliance between Russia's avant-garde and Lenin's cultural initiatives. Not available in French-speaking Canada. (54 minutes)


#2563 Russian Studies - The Life and Times of Josef Stalin (Run time 90 min.) DVD $159.95

This is the documentary story of the man who subverted the Russian Revolution: born in 1879 in Georgia, a region colonized by Russia at the beginning of the 19th century; studied for the priesthood but soon abandoned piety for insurrection and agitation. By the time of the Revolution, his unique skills had emerged: to be in the right place at the right time and leave the speechifying to others while accumulating political power behind the scenes. Suppressing Lenin's dying wish that Stalin be replaced, he became Lenin's heir. Unable to achieve his objectives by consensus, he imposed them by fiat. The program follows the struggles and betrayals of the 1920s, the atrocities and loss of hope of the 1930s, the dreadful carnage of World War II, the sleight of hand by which Stalin imposed his conditions on Roosevelt and Churchill, and the end of this man, who brought so much suffering to so many. His cronies would have to die as well before the Era of Stalin could truly end. (90 minutes, b&w/color)


#36394 Russian Studies - Our Own Private Bin Laden-Educator's Edition (Run time min.) DVD $159.95

Would the collapse of the Soviet Union have been possible without American sponsorship of Islamic fundamentalism? Did U.S. policies pave the way for 9/11? Does the American media help sustain Osama Bin Laden's popularity? This documentary examines those questions, studying the machinations of key players-the CIA, Bin Laden, Afghani mujahideen and opium traders, Presidents Carter and Reagan, the Bank of Credit and Commerce International, and others-as the Cold War morphed into the War on Terror. Presenting a wide range of opinions, the program features eye-opening interviews with high-level leaders and renowned political analysts-including Milton Bearden, former CIA station chief in Pakistan; Benazir Bhutto, former Prime Minister of Pakistan; and scholar and activist Noam Chomsky. Also notable is Zbigniew Brzezinski, former National Security Advisor and architect of the Carter administration's plan to draw the Soviet Union into a Vietnam-style conflict in Afghanistan. Contains extensive bonus interview material (DVD only). (63 minutes + 102 minutes of bonus material)


#11032 Russian Studies - Russia Today: Ten Years After the Fall of the Soviet Union (Run time min.) DVD $259.9

A decade after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, what are the true costs of sexual freedom and a free press in contemporary Russia? What is the new threat posed by Russia's powerful nuclear arsenal? Will business corruption ever be stamped out? And have politics really changed all that much? This incisive two-part series-hosted by ABC News anchor Ted Koppel and featuring interviews with Vladimir Putin and Boris Berezovsky-travels to Russia to search for the answers. 2-part series, 61-71 minutes each.


#38701 Russian Studies - October 1917: Lenin's Story (Run time min.) DVD $299.9

It was more coup than revolution-which may explain why the Russian upheaval of 1917 remains cloaked in state secrecy and Soviet-era mythology. This two-part series sheds new light on the birth of Lenin's regime and the social and political turmoil that accompanied it. Using a vast array of recently discovered and freshly examined archival films and documents, the series explores the fundamentals of how and why the October Revolution occurred and the mechanisms that enabled the Bolsheviks to legitimize their power grab. Commentary from an impressive lineup of experts-including British scholar Robert Service, Russian historians Alexei Shishov and Alexander Neklessa, and acclaimed Lenin and Tsar Nicholas II biographer Helene Carrere d'Encausse-enriches both episodes. Not available in French-speaking Canada. 2-part series, 54 minutes each.


#2810 Russian Studies - Soviets: The True Story of Perestroika (Run time 58 min.) DVD $449.75

This series represents an unparalleled documentary record.of the rapid and profound transformations within the U.S.S.R. that have reverberated throughout Eastern Europe and since led to the dissolution of the Soviet Union itself. The programs include accounts from survivors of Chernobyl and moving sequences of the survivors of the Armenian earthquake, and look at changing attitudes toward religion, disillusioned Afghan war veterans, and various nonconformist groups."Only rarely do films attain a place in the history of the conflicts which they depict, and this achievement makes Soviets as close to a masterpiece as any documentary I have seen recently." -The London ObserverWinner, Prix Italia for best documentary. (5 x 58 minutes)




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