Matyora is a small village on an eponymous beautiful island; its existence is threatened with flooding by the construction of a dam, leaving its citizens forced to bid farewell to their beloved home.

Combining staged scenes, newsreel footage, and documentary episodes, the history of the development of sports is presented, showing the stadiums of Moscow, Philadelphia, Stockholm and Mexico City in the past and future.

Elem Klimov's tribute to his late wife, director Larisa Shepitko, killed in a car accident a year earlier. Features excerpts from all of her films, and archival audio of her discussing life and art.

About the feat of doctor Ivan Rusak, one of the best runners in the country, who during the Great Patriotic War, using the tactics of long-distance running, diverted the Nazi punishers from the partisan camp.

The main character is a masked hero, akin to the great comedians of the 20th century, created by the Leningrad mime N.S. Nikitin.

The film tells about Mikhail Bulgakov's work in the early twenties of the last century as a journalist in Moscow newspapers and magazines. These were difficult and hungry years. The Moscow of those years comes to life on the screen.