Liberation

Liberation (Osvobozhdenie) is a five-part Soviet war epic directed by Yuri Ozerov from a screenplay by Yuri Bondarev and Oskar Kurganov. Released in 1970 and 1971 and shot in a 70 mm wide-format process, it was a co-production between the Soviet Union, Poland, East Germany, Yugoslavia and Italy.

The series dramatizes the final phase of the Great Patriotic War, from the summer of 1943 to the fall of Berlin in 1945, through five major Eastern Front campaigns: the Battle of Kursk, the Lower Dnieper Offensive, Operation Bagration, the Vistula–Oder Offensive and the Battle of Berlin. Featuring more than fifty historical figures and running over seven hours in total, it is regarded as the most ambitious Soviet screen treatment of the Second World War. The first part was completed in 1970 for the 25th anniversary of the victory, and the film was submitted as the Soviet entry for the 1971 Academy Awards.