Tengiz Abuladze's allegorical film, made in Georgia, is the best known film of the perestroika and glasnost years. With its outspoken and controversial reference to the Stalin era and Stalin's place in the Soviet psyche, 'Repentance' was originally shelved but ultimately released in 1986 to widespread popular and critical acclaim.

This _KINOfile_ investigates the production, context and critical reception of the film, the people who made it, and provides an analysis of the film itself and its place in world cinema.

Josephine Woll is Professor of German and Russian at Howard University, Washington D.C.
Denise Youngblood is Professor at the University of Vermont.