

The heroines conquered death on screen. The actresses? Fate wasn't so kind.
The heroes of Soviet melodramas courageously overcame all obstacles in the name of love. They fought and conquered disease and even death. But in real life, the actors who embodied these melodramatic images were often helpless before the traps of fate. What challenge was filming a film about happy motherhood for Natalya Gundareva? Why did Zarechnaya Street become a dead end for the leading actress?
Direction
Lapenkova's surgical dissection of Soviet star-making machinery
Production
Rare archival footage that hits like a gut punch
Director
Elena Lapenkova
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Soviet melodramas demanded women suffer beautifully; this doc exposes what happened when the cameras stopped.
Natalya Gundareva was simultaneously Soviet cinema's most beloved mother and its most privately tormented star.
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