Urartu was an early first millennium BC kingdom located in the Armenian highlands. Thanks to its animosity with Assyria, it had militaristic society and is thought to be the first kingdom to convert form bronze to iron weaponry leading…

Drawing on the collections of major Russian institutions, contributions from contemporary artists, curators and performers and personal testimony from the descendants of those involved, the film brings the artists of the Russian Avant-Garde to life. It tells the stories of artists like Chagall, Kandinsky and Malevich – pioneers who flourished in response to the challenge of building a new art for a new world, only to be broken by implacable authority after 15 short years and silenced by Stalin’s Socialist Realism.

A French marquis (Sergei Dreiden) wanders through a vast labyrinth of corridors, theaters and ballrooms at a reception for a Persian ambassador.