Socrates of Kamchatka / When Snow Fell on Communism

Directed & Produced by: Irina Patkanian

Stage:
- Completed, Seeking Distro
Location:
- Russia
Updated: May 8, 2026
Project Type:
- Feature,
- Short
Project Style:
- Historical,
- Hybrid
Theme Subject:
- History,
- Nature / Wildlife,
- Politics

Logline

A documentary fable about the 'breaking' of horses and people by their Communist masters. In a small Russian town, a stallion, who was “broken” into dependence on people for food and shelter reflects on the fate of his masters – people “broken” into dependence on government.

Synopsis

Socrates of Kamchatka blends documentary and fiction to tell a story about Anfisa, and her horse, Socrates, who was murdered in 2012 to punish Anfisa for her economic success. It is a tale about the “breaking” of horses and people by caring Communist masters.

...

From the documentary thread of the movie, we learn about Anfisa's life: happy Soviet childhood during 1980s; stealing meat in undergarments in the chaotic 1990s; running a very successful tourist company during Putin's nationalism of the 2000s. From the fictional thread—Socrates' voice over narration—we learn a somewhat different perspective of the human plight of the past 30 years. Humorous and sad, mixing folk lyricism and official government verbiage, opinion and fact, truth and fiction, Socrates’s narration echoes unstable Russian discourse.

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Team

Irina Patkanian

Director & Producer

Team

Irina Patkanian

Director & Producer

Irina Patkanian is an award-winning filmmaker, a Fulbright scholar, a professor of film & media arts at Brooklyn College and the co-founder and artistic director of “In Parentheses,” a NYC based nonprofit film, theater & media arts company. Irina Patkanian makes hybrid (fiction/nonfiction) films questioning history with poetry, memory with animation, behavior with performance. Irina’s films have screened at 150+ film festivals worldwide, winning 30+ awards. Her work has been supported by fellowships and grants from NYSCA, NYFA, NYC Dept. of Cultural Affairs, Tow, Blaustein, Troy, FACE, Puffin and Jerome Foundations, as well as artist residencies at MacDowell and The Millay Arts; Ucross and the Art Studios of Key West; VCCA and Obermann Center for Humanities; Greywood Arts, Watershed Art Studios and Cowhouse in Ireland; Art House Holland and Villa Lena Foundation in Italy.

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Budget

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Our Ask

I produced the film myself with in-kind contributions and grants (NYSCA, CUNY) I am always looking for producers / curators / programmers who can help the project find its home; mainstream or alternative streaming platforms, educational circuit or organize special screenings.

We are seeking:

Sales Agent,
Press Agent