The Scythian Suite

Nikolai Chukrov - the main character in this impressive and original account of the oppression and inhumane actions of a dictatorship - is a man without a past or a future. He was born in a gulag and still lives in an area where former concentration camps were located under Stalin's regime and which the Russian government would prefer to keep quiet about even after the fall of communism. Director Alexander Gutman links this personal story with the preparation of a concert by Sergei Prokofiev, who died in neglect on the same day as Stalin. The final strand of the story consists of unique weekly newsreels showing the construction of penal camps. Thanks to the combination of storylines, this short film is a cogent commentary on Russia's past and present whilst also having the scope to compare these two eras. It puts the complex punitive situation of a totalitarian country into its wider historical and political context. It is also a film with a universal dimension. It tells the story of dictatorships around the world and their impact on the ordinary man in the street. It also portrays a society where culture is pushed to the margins and a completely barbarous lie holds sway.