We Looked in the Death's Face

We Looked in the Death's Face (1980) is a Soviet war drama directed by Naum Birman — watch it online on iFILM. Oleg Dal leads the cast alongside Vladimir Zamansky and Valentin Nikulin. The film draws on documented events from the Leningrad siege.

Early spring 1942. The city has been encircled for months. Lieutenant Korbut — a ballet master turned officer — is given an unusual assignment: find his former students still living in the city and build a dance ensemble to perform for troops at the front. Within days the young dancers are on a makeshift stage in front of soldiers who came straight from the line.

Birman was not interested in triumph. This is a quiet film about why art matters when the fighting is still going on, and what it costs to perform under those conditions. Oleg Dal carries the whole thing without a false note. Stream We Looked in the Death's Face online on iFILM.