Vladimir Piskunov

Almanac of five short stories commissioned by ROSKOMKINO to celebrate the 100th anniversary of cinema.

In the old house, but in the heart of the big city lives a Russian intellectual Chekhov's tailoring Ilyin. He lives a quiet-peaceful and for the time being do not know what in the old closet is the entrance to a mysterious cave and magic the room from which you can easily get to any capital in the world…

The story of the Siberian Zavarzin family, which has long lived by bee trade. After an incomprehensible virus entered the hives one day, accusations between two neighboring farms reached the intensity of a real war. After all, if there are no bees, then there is no life, and you have to go to the city. The village began to empty before our eyes. The disintegration also occurs within the Zavarzin family: the eldest son gets drunk, the middle one is going to emigrate, the younger one goes crazy, the uncle rages with fat, not knowing where to put his money. And nothing can unite the once strong family anymore.

One fine morning, the stoker of an ancient stokehouse in Moscow woke up with a hangover, found a hefty black raven on his window, which turned out to be talking and boozing.

The self-taught inventor Kostylin, convinced of the expediency of his latest work, this time decided to seek recognition to the end.