Chekist

Srubov is a part of CHEKA, the secret police Lenin established after the Bolshevik Revolution. They arrest, interview for a minute, try in ten seconds, and execute intellectuals, aristocrats, Jews, clergy, and their families. In the building basement, five people at a time are shot as they stand naked facing wooden doors. No one to remember their last words; no martyrs, just anonymous bodies. Daily, the kangaroo court, the executions, the loading of bodies onto wagons. Srubov is cold, distant, sexually dysfunctional, and a deep thinker, hate...

Playing With Dolls

Olya, a straight-A middle school student, is experiencing her parents' break-up and her first love at the same time, all while struggling to maintain the image of a perfect child. One day she stays at her mom's house for a sleepover; the next day, she goes to her dad's. Neither parent is happy about the arrangement, nor is Olya. This is a coming-of-age story set in a small, bleak Russian town.