Mira Todorovskaya

Dumplings with Cherries

The simplest Russian woman unexpectedly gets in the way of a violent criminal. She must at all costs give them the required (and for her just incredible) amount of money, otherwise her daughter is in danger. How to find a way out? Tormented by this question, she makes a difficult decision.

The Taurus Constellation

Todorovsky's film examines life in a provincial Russian town (that is too small to even appear on the map) just outside of Stalingrad during the famous WWII Battle. This is NOT a traditional war film, and the epic events of the battle take place almost entirely off screen. Instead, Todorovsky outlines a crude love triangle between three young people caught up in the harsh Russian winter. The stark winter settings, and the characters' struggle for survival, are what make this film one worth watching.

Life is full of fun

Provincial town near Moscow. Here in a large communal apartment several families live. Each has its own concerns, its interests, its troubles and joys. A communal apartment is not just a habitat. This is a kind of section of society. They are all very different, members of this "communal dormitory": the intelligent Vera and the philistine Larisa, old-age pensioners who live their lives, and the invalid Lyra, who dreams of a happy life in faraway Australia, the soulless clerk Bozhok and the young scientist Victor, forced to look for tutoring . However, their fates are inextricably linked with events and difficult collisions taking place in the country, with a sense of instability, fear, anxious expectation: something must happen.

Retro Threesome

Set in contemporary Moscow, this comedy drama from 72-year-old director Pyotr Todorovsky is a remake of Abram Room's controversial silent film Bed and Sofa (1927). Actor Sergei leaves his wife and drops in on friend Kostya, married to Rita. Rita and Sergei pair off after Kostya goes away on a business trip, and when Kostya returns, they become a threesome. Shown at the 1998 Berlin Film Festival.

What a Wonderful Game

In a dormitory in 1951 four students prefer pranks to studying.

Encore, Once More Encore!

A drama set at the end of the Forties and the beginning of the Fifties. In a distant garrison town, life proceeds at a measured past. The officers drink and debauch, while the soldiers serve. Meanwhile accidentally unleashed human emotions are suffocated by the atmosphere of cruelty and hypocrisy.