“One Second Before the Shot”: Sochi Students Touched the Harsh Truth of War at the Screening of Vladimir Shuvannikov’s Documentary Film

The screening of Vladimir Shuvannikov’s documentary film “One Second Before the Shot. The Mystery of the Legendary Photograph” took place on September 25, 2026 at the Institute of Transport and Service in Sochi. The event continued the program of the XXI Vladimir Menshov International Film Festival “Won Together”. The festival, in turn, was part of the Second World Public Assembly “New World: Values That Unite”, held in September in Moscow.

The Institute of Transport and Service is a traditional Sochi venue for the film festival: for the fourth year, screenings of documentary films for students have been held here.

At the heart of the film “One Second Before the Shot” is the story of a unique photograph discovered decades later in a private German archive. The image captures a Soviet soldier minutes before the shooting. Thanks to the painstaking work of search teams, it was possible to reconstruct the circumstances surrounding the appearance of this frame and to find new evidence of the tragic events on the Musta-Tunturi ridge. The film tells the story of the photograph’s hero and immerses viewers in the harsh truth about the defense of the Soviet Arctic, where Soviet troops held the enemy off the Rybachy Peninsula for three years.

For the Institute of Transport and Service, film festival screenings are an important part of the educational process. Documentary films provide an opportunity to discuss history with students not only through textbooks and lectures, but also through real human destinies, eyewitness recollections and archival documents. This format helps to gain a deeper understanding of historical events, to form one’s own attitude to what has been seen and to preserve the connection between generations.

In 2026, the “Won Together” Film Festival was held for the first time not only in Sochi, but also in Moscow. The program included 110 documentary films from 28 countries about the Great Patriotic War and the Second World War, historical memory, culture, modern society, human destinies and personal overcoming.

For more than 20 years, the festival has brought together authors from different countries who, in their work, address the most important events of the past and present, preserve the memory of people’s destinies and, through the means of documentary cinema, uphold historical truth.

The organizers of the film festival are the World Peoples Assembly, the Administration of the City of Sochi, the Production Centre «Integration», the Eurasian Academy of Television and Radio and the Company «Intellectual Resource», with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation.

Partners: The Union of Cinematographers of the Russian Federation, the Regional Cinema Support Fund, the Project «KinoShkola», RUDN University’s Sochi Institute, the IRIAS Creative Industries Development Center, The Foundation “Remembrance of victories”.

Media partners: Publishing House «Argumenty i Fakty», OTR, MIR, RTR television channels: «Vesti Sochi», «InterMedia» News Agency, «Sochinews», «Kultura.rf», «Literaturnaya Gazeta», «Utro.ru», IPQuorum, «Rabotniki TV», «History Network», Moviestart.

Additional information is available on the official website of the World Peoples Assembly, on its VKontakte and Telegram accounts, and at media@world-assembly.org.