1-World Festival of Foreign Films
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"I Was Stalin's Bodyguard"
1989
Directed by Semyon Aranovich

This controversial documentary created a storm in Russia by taking the cloak off a violent, repressive period of Soviet history. Filmmaker Semyon Aranovich found the last surviving personal bodyguard of Josef Stalin, who began working for the dictator in the 1930s. I Was Stalin's Bodyguard weaves together unprecedented, first-hand testimony with rare footage, including Stalin's home movies. What emerges is a singular portrait of a violent and complex era during which Stalin consolidated his power through brutal repressions, yet led the Soviet Union to victory in World War II. "Aranovish has a nice sense of irony" (David Robinson, London Times). Russian with English subtitles. 73 minutes.