The Commissar (1967) - film by Alexander Askoldov.

The Commissar (1967) (English subtitles).

Based on the story by V. Grossman "In the Town of Berdichev".
A female commissar named Vavilova has to leave her detachment for a while. She is expecting a baby... Staying with the Jewish family of a petty artisan, who has many children of his own, and observing the everyday life of those poor but always ready to help people, Madame Vavilova, as she is called by the head of the family, Yefim Magazannik, discovers a hitherto unknown to her world of human joys, the happy pleasures of motherhood and family life. But soon she has to return to the realities of war and leave her newborn son with her new friends...
The fate of the film was tragic. The film was banned for twenty years in the Soviet Union; the censorship board considered it "pro-Zionist" due to its sympathetic portrayal of Jews.

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Crew:
Written and Directed by Alexander Askoldov
Music by A. Schnittke
Cinematography by V. Ginsburg
Production Designer - S. Serebrennikov
Assistant Directors: V. Levin, V. Grigoriev, L. Prilutskaya

Cast:
Nonna Mordyukova as Klavdia Vavilova
Rolan Bykov as Yefim Mahazannik
Raisa Nedashkovskaya as Maria Mahazannik
Lyudmila Volynskaya as The Grandmother
Vasili Shukshin as The Commandant
and others

Awards:
* Тhe film has been awarded a special jury prize, "Silver Bear" at the 38th West Berlin International Film Festival in 1988
* International Film Critics Award (FIPRESCI)
*Jury Award of the International Catholic Organization of Film and Audio-Visual Media in Information (OCIC)
* Otto Dibelius Film Award of the International Evangelical Jury (Interfilm)

© M. Gorky Film Studio, 1967.

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