1-World Festival of Foreign Films
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"Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears"
1980
Directed by Vladimir Menshov

Winner of the 1981 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.  A trio of young women come to Moscow in the 1950's,  seeking work and romance in  Vladimir Menshov's melodrama about the cruel anonymity of city life.  Structured in two parts, the first half is set in 1958, as the three Russian girls are shunned to a workers' dormitory. Tonya (Raisa Ryazanova) finds happiness; Ludmila (Irina Muraveva) is trapped in an unhealthy and oppressive marriage; and Katerina (Vera Alentova) is cruely abandoned when her lover discovers that she's pregnant. The second half catches up with their lives 20 years later.   With Alexei Batalov, Alexander Fatiushin and Boris Smorchkov. Russian with English subtitles.
148 minutes.