Thousands of letters from prisoners who have been wrongly accused by the regime are being burned in a prison cell. Despite all odds, one reaches its destination: the desk of the newly appointed local prosecutor, Alexander Kornev. Kornev does everything in his power to meet the prisoner, a victim of agents from the NKVD secret police. The young prosecutor, a committed Bolshevik of integrity, suspects foul play. His quest for justice leads him all the way to the office of the Prosecutor General in Moscow. In the era of the great Stalinist purges, this is a man’s descent into the corridors of a totalitarian regime that does not bear that name. 

Sergei Loznitsa, a regular at goEast, adapted Georgi Demidov’s (1908–1987) novel of the same name into this historical drama.

F/D/NL/LETT/RUM/LIT 2025, 118 min., Original Version with Subtitles, Rating: 12 and
up Organizer: DFF – German Film Institute & Film Museum