Does NEON have this year’s Cold War on their hands? There are numerous similarities between that Oscar-nominated film and Dear Comrades!, both in its black & white, 4:3 aspect ratio presentation, and the depiction of a cruel, punitive Russian government. The latest film in a decades-spanning career from writer/director Andrei Konchalovsky (Uncle Vanya), it premiered last year at the Venice Film Festival where it won a Special Jury Prize, and that might be just the first of many accolades to come.
Set in 1962 in the small industrial town of Novocherkassk, the story follows a communist woman who witnesses the Soviet army’s killing of protesters holding a worker strike. The film is based on the actual Novocherkassk massacre in which dozens of people were killed and injured. The whole thing was covered-up and kept secret until the fall of the Soviet Union in 1992.
Starring Julia Vysotskaya, Vladislav Komarov, Andrei Gusev, Yulia Burova, and Sergei Erlish, Dear Comrades! opens in Virtual Cinemas on January 20th, before going to VOD and Hulu on February 5th.
When the communist government raises food prices in 1962, the rebellious workers from the small industrial town of Novocherkassk go on strike. The massacre which then ensues is seen through the eyes of a devout party activist.