For over a century, Russia has embraced the creative challenges of some of the most visually rich genres in cinema – science fiction, fantasy, and horror – producing stunningly beautiful, entertaining movies whose remarkable special effects often preceded their American equivalents.

Director Aleksandr Ptushko (1900-1973) was a pioneer in this tradition who began his career in the 1930s. With singular artistic inventiveness, Ptushko became a Soviet foil to Walt Disney, Ray Harryhausen and Mario Bava as he created dazzling, bejeweled fantasies including such groundbreaking films as The Stone Flower, Sadko, Sampo, and Ruslan & Ludmila.