Dear Comrades!

Soviet Union, 1962: A workers' strike in the southern town of Novocherkassk threatens to spiral out of control. That is, in the eyes of the ideologically steadfast party official Lyudmila, who is all in favour of violently suppressing the protest. And thus it goes: a protest march ends in a massacre, leaving dozens dead. With horror, Lyudmila realizes her teenage daughter Svetka, who has decided to join the rebellious workers, could be among the victims. She embarks on a desperate quest.

Veteran Andrey Konchalovskiy, who once worked with Tarkovsky, highlights in black-and-white images this chapter in Soviet history, which the authorities would have preferred to cover up; it wasn't until the 1990s that the truth came to light. The Communist Party should stand up for the interests of the working proletariat, in this historical drama Konchalovskiy however shows how the hardened party officials led by Khrushchev were terrified of their base. Winner of the Special Jury Prize in Venice.