Who promised Muscovites that the war of 1812 would not affect them? How was it punished for retelling news to friends in the XIX century? How did Napoleon and the French behave in captured Moscow? And the main question is: who really burned Moscow?

Helsinki seems to rise organically from the restrained and even austere nature that surrounds it. Across these waterways, forests, and rocky landscapes, thousands of former subjects of the Russian Empire fled to the city after 1917, escaping the revolution, civil war, and Bolshevik repressions—both aristocrats and ordinary people alike. Many chose Helsinki because of its proximity to Saint Petersburg, but émigrés also arrived from Ukraine, the Baltic states, and the Caucasus, seeking refuge from persecution and striving to preserve their culture and language. For many, the move was seen as a temporary measure, in the hope that the situation in Russia would soon stabilize. However, Finland, which gained independence in 1917, became a permanent home for many. Over the years, Helsinki hosted notable figures such as Alexander Kuprin, Ilya Repin, Igor Severyanin, Sofia Kovalevskaya, and others.

Traveling to a totalitarian, authoritarian — or simply unfree — country is easy today. The real question is what such a journey allows one to see, and more importantly, to truly notice. Most travelers return with conventional impressions: restaurants, cafés, exhibitions, theaters. Yet distance often sharpens perception. With this in mind, the filmmakers travel to Nazi Berlin of 1936, seeking to understand what impressions and observations they might have brought back from this dazzling, remarkable, and deeply unsettling city.

Traveling to a totalitarian, authoritarian — or simply unfree — country is easy today. The real question is what such a journey allows one to see, and more importantly, to truly notice. Most travelers return with conventional impressions: restaurants, cafés, exhibitions, theaters. Yet distance often sharpens perception. With this in mind, the filmmakers travel to Nazi Berlin of 1936, seeking to understand what impressions and observations they might have brought back from this dazzling, remarkable, and deeply unsettling city.

Traveling to a totalitarian, authoritarian — or simply unfree — country is easy today. The real question is what such a journey allows one to see, and more importantly, to truly notice. Most travelers return with conventional impressions: restaurants, cafés, exhibitions, theaters. Yet distance often sharpens perception. With this in mind, the filmmakers travel to Nazi Berlin of 1936, seeking to understand what impressions and observations they might have brought back from this dazzling, remarkable, and deeply unsettling city.

Traveling to a totalitarian, authoritarian — or simply unfree — country is easy today. The real question is what such a journey allows one to see, and more importantly, to truly notice. Most travelers return with conventional impressions: restaurants, cafés, exhibitions, theaters. Yet distance often sharpens perception. With this in mind, the filmmakers travel to Nazi Berlin of 1936, seeking to understand what impressions and observations they might have brought back from this dazzling, remarkable, and deeply unsettling city.