Movies Similar to A Journey to the Gulag

Cannibal Island(2009)

A disturbing chapter in Russian history is explored in this documentary. In 1933, Joseph Stalin sent 6000 "unwanted" citizens of Moscow and Leningrad to a desolate Siberian island - with no food or clothes to speak of. Decades later this documentary returns to the island.

Gulag(2006)

This excellent and breathtaking documentary is the result of a long study on the Gulag to try to understand why more than 60 million Soviet citizens were sent to the camps from 1918 to 1956, how such a massive confinement could take place during two generations. From the Solovki in the north-west to the Kolima in Siberia, from Lenine to Kroutchev, a polar geography is erected into the Gulag system. One does not escape from camps. After ten years of imprisonment, one dies. Some survived, some left traces; they witness: organisation, work and discipline, but also resistance, repression and revolt.

Gulag(1999)

Documentary examining Stalin's Gulag. Between the October Revolution and Stalin's death in 1953, millions of people died in the camps. The film explores the Gulag legacy, hearing from victims and perpetrators of the system.

Stalin: Man of Steel(2003)

Emmy Awards nominee for "Outstanding Individual Achievement in a Craft: Research: Multi-faceted portrait of the man who succeeded Lenin as the head of the Soviet Union. With a captivating blend of period documents, newly-released information, newsreel and archival footage and interviews with experts, the program examines his rise to power, deconstructs the cult of personality that helped him maintain an iron grip over his vast empire, and analyzes the policies he introduced, including the deadly expansion of the notorious gulags where he banished so many of his countrymen to certain death.

The Forgotten Soldier(2010)

Captured by the Red Army during World War II, Hungarian soldier András Toma was admitted to a Soviet psychiatric hospital. After disappearing from prisoner-of-war records, he was presumed dead in Hungary. Because his name was incorrectly recorded in medical documents and he spoke only Hungarian—mistaken by staff for incoherent speech—Toma spent decades misunderstood and isolated in the institution. Fifty-three years later, a visiting Slovak doctor recognised his language, triggering an investigation by Hungarian authorities. Toma was repatriated in 2000, believed to be the last prisoner of war from World War II to return home.

The Gulag Archipelago: The Book That Changed Russian History(2023)

The story of Russian writer and Soviet dissident Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (1918-2008) and his masterpiece, The Gulag Archipelago, published in Paris in 1973, which forever shook the very foundations of communist ideology.

East of Paradise(2005)

Filmmaker Lech Kowalski explores his belief that struggle is "the epitome of living" in this documentary which compares the wildly different life experiences of himself and his mother. Kowalski's mother came of age in Poland during the early stages of World War II, and after failed attempts to outrun both Nazi and Russian forces she and her family were sent to a Soviet concentration camp, where inmates were tortured, mistreated, and starved to the point where some ate their own lice in a desperate struggle to survive. Kowalski also depicts his own self-inflicted season in hell during his years on the New York City punk rock scene as he wallowed in the sordid underbelly of drug addiction, pornography, prostitution, and streetwise decadence. On both stories, Kowalski finds a message of hope and strength in the midst of almost certain peril.

Women of the Gulag(2017)

Through unique and candid interviews the film tells the compelling and tragic stories of the six women – last survivors of the Gulag, the brutal system of repression and terror that devastated the Soviet population during the regime of Stalin.

Frosia, une femme libre au Goulag(2024)

Little Vilma: The Last Diary(2000)

The movie is inspired by writer-director Márta Mészáros' own childhood. The film is a grim reminder of horrible days under Stalinist period when several innocent people were persecuted for no fault. A good film which allow people to know how people in Europe were tortured before second world war by dictators and authoritarian regimes.

The Way Back(2010)

A small band of multicultural convicts stages a daring escape from a WWII-era Siberian gulag, and embarks on a treacherous journey across five countries in a desperate race for freedom and survival.

Where We Disappear(2019)

A story of survival about a woman's first night in a Soviet prison camp. After committing a crime to protect her son, Anastasia is sentenced to 12 years in a Soviet prison camp. Her arrival upsets the balance between the inmates. In a night of backstabbing and shifting alliances, she must find a way to escape and discover the hidden truth of her survival.

The Cold Summer of 1953(1988)

In 1953, the year Stalin died, many prisoners (some political, but mostly common criminals) were released from the Soviet Gulags. This is the story of a remote settlement which was under attack by a bunch of these recently-released blood-thirsty thugs in the summer of 1953, and the townspeople, along with a two political prisoners, who try to stop them.

Muppets Most Wanted(2014)

While on a grand world tour, The Muppets find themselves wrapped into an European jewel-heist caper headed by a Kermit the Frog look-alike and his dastardly sidekick.

Embajadores en el infierno(1956)

Four Spanish Blue Division soldiers captured after the German invasion of Soviet territory face a choice in forced labor camps: renounce their Spanish nationality for better conditions. While two accept, Captain Adrados leads a group resisting, labeling those who comply as traitors, showcasing a struggle for loyalty to Franco's values.

The Forgotten Shadows

A film based on the event of the first three seasons of of the series "Stranger Things" Season 3. Early Winter, 1985. Presumed dead by the world, Jim Hopper finds himself trapped in a secret gulag, the Pot’ma Camp. Haunted by visions of his past, Hopper struggles to survive days after days in the camp. Until Dmitri Antonov, a guard also tormented by his own demons, offers him a chance to escape.

GULAG -THE MOVIE-(2024)

Uma Thurman: Hollywood's Silent Warrior(2024)

A portrait of American actress Uma Thurman, muse of legendary filmmaker Quentin Tarantino and courageous voice for the many victims of despotic producer Harvey Weinstein.

Yu Yakha River(2006)

The world – full of sensitivity – lies far away. Changeable as the northern sky. Monotonous – like a prayer. Wonderful as stones. At the same time familiar and mysterious. We are advancing by a big river. It's autumn on the river. Somewhat empty – but it is a sensitive void: filled with vital meanings. Downstream and downstream…

Exote: Filming Of The Wandering Soap Opera(2017)

A documentary recorded during the filming of "The Wandering Soap Opera" by Raúl Ruiz. Made in 1990 and completed 27 years later, in 2017. The film brings closer the approach in Ruiz's directing style and his personal vision of Cinema.