
Drawing on the collections of major Russian institutions, contributions from contemporary artists, curators and performers and personal testimony from the descendants of those involved, the film brings the artists of the Russian Avant-Garde to life. It tells the stories of artists like Chagall, Kandinsky and Malevich - pioneers who flourished in response to the challenge of building a new art for a new world, only to be broken by implacable authority after 15 short years and silenced by Stalin's Socialist Realism.

Tom Hollander
Kazimir Malevich (voice)

Matthew Macfadyen
Vladimir Lenin (voice)

Eleanor Tomlinson
Lyubov Popova (voice)

James Fleet
Wassily Kandinsky (voice)

Daisy Bevan
Varvara Stepanova (voice)

Sean Cronin
Sergeant Berman
Alex Enmarch
Nikolay Punin

Ernest Gromov
Officer Vorontsov
Tom Rose
Gustav Klutsis - Prisoner

Andrei Konchalovsky
Self
Mikhail Piotrovsky
Self
Zelfira Tregulova
Self

Olympia Part One: Festival of the Nations
Olympia Part One: Festival of the Nations

Olympia Part Two: Festival of Beauty
Olympia Part Two: Festival of Beauty

Sex(ed): The Movie
Sex(ed): The Movie

Ulysse
Ulysse

The Korean Wedding Chest
The Korean Wedding Chest

My Own Breathing
My Own Breathing

Riotsville, USA
Riotsville, USA

Spies of Mississippi
Spies of Mississippi

The Human Experiment
The Human Experiment

The Vanquishing of the Witch Baba Yaga
The Vanquishing of the Witch Baba Yaga

Buba
Buba

The 11th Hour
The 11th Hour