I Was Stalin's Bodyguard (Ya Sluzhil v Okhrane Stalina - Ili Opyt Dokumentalnoy Mifologii) (1990)

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.