Denis Shlenkov

URSS, 1971. Six jours dans la vie de l’auteur Sergei Dovlatov, qui se bat pour écrire avec intégrité malgré l’écrasante censure imposée par le régime soviétique.

Contemporary Russia. After he flubs a penalty kick, a humiliated national soccer player quits the game. He flees to a small town, where he decides to coach their local team.

Nicolas II, l'empereur de Russie, rencontre la danseuse polonaise, Matilda Kschessinska, qui a assuré la gloire du ballet russe. Une passion naît entre eux, une passion qui pourrait changer le cours de l'histoire russe. Un amour devenu une légende. Chacun connaît dans sa vie des jours qui peuvent la changer pour toujours, quand surgit l'essentiel. Tu écoutes la voix de l'amour, et tu fais ton choix. Mais si le souverain d'un empire aime une danseuse dont la beauté l'ensorcelle…

Petersburg at the end of the 19th century was embraced by a massive enthusiasm for the occult sciences and esotericism. British medium Olivia Reed arrives in the capital of the Russian Empire on tour and gathers crowds of people at her public spiritualistic sessions. At this time, a series of ritual mysterious murders takes place in the city. Girls are abducted on the streets, their mutilated bodies are found in various parts of the city. The investigation is carried out by a young police officer Rostov and his assistant Ganin. With each new victim, things are becoming more confused. Suspicion leads Rostov to Olivia, and he decides to turn to her in the hope that her genuine or imaginary ability to summon the spirits of the dead can help to get on the trail of the killer.

Russian Empire, 1919. By a twist of fate, young idealist Osip Zadunaisky meets an infamous con artist and self-proclaimed Turkish subject Ibrahim Bender. A man of pure thought and aristocratic upbringing, Osip would never have associated with a cunning and unscrupulous swindler, but Bender comes up with an offer Osip cannot refuse. A precious royal relic, a diamond-encrusted golden scepter is hidden somewhere in town; Bender needs a partner on his mission to find it, and offers Osip a share of the profit from selling the treasure. And so begins their joint venture, wrought with comical and dangerous twists and turns, where they have to outsmart and outmaneuver officers of the White Guard as well as the local mafia, who also have their eyes on the scepter. As their quest unfolds, Osip is compelled to learn Bender’s tricks of the trade: charming flattery, delicate deception, soft intimidation... as well as brute force.