I found Mikhalkov’s documentary film Anna to be an incredibly moving and brilliant use of cinematography to encapsulate over 10 years of Russian history through a combination of Mikhalkov’s daughter’s personal accounts and references to the momentous national events during the collapse of the Soviet Union. While Mikhalkov began the project, the act of filming and producing a personal movie violated the censorship laws and put creators at danger. For Mikhalkov, a nationally renowned filmmaker, he must have known that the film and his act of political deviance could have immense impact. Anna is a creative child who is afraid of witches and wants a crocodile as a pet. She grows up to be an idealistic teenager  whose sentiments become more reflective of her environment, such as her fear of war and prediction of a “bright future” for her country where people are free to do as they want. I think that Anna’s awareness of the world around her and her faith in her country is a testament to both the human spirit and the national strength of Russia. The composition of the documentary does a beautiful job of interspersing the newsreel footage, often chaotic and violent, with the intimate conversations between Anna and her father, often amongst more peaceful countryside scenery.  This allows the audience to see a young girl grow up in a time of tumult and instability, yet still hope for a future and find a home in her country. At the end of the documentary, Anna comments that she is afraid of what will happen when she leaves Russia for Switzerland and how the country will change in her absence, yet she also says that a homeland is a place that you can believe in and you have to love. I think that the documentary serves an important historical and primary source through which to study the fall of the Soviet Union, and also a powerful testament to the stress, fear, and hope in the lives of the Russian people at this time.