Partisan Spark

From the first days of the WWII, an underground Komsomol organization "Partisan Spark" was established in a small Ukrainian village Krymka, captured by the fascists. It was headed by a ninth-grader Parfen Grechanyi. Young underground members, yesterday's schoolchildren, led a brave and courageous fight against the occupants. Beginning with the defeat of a fascist convoy that was taking bread from the village, the Sparkers were terrifying the enemies with their combat operations. It was 1943. The organization grew and became stronger. One day a rash act of a desperate boy Shura Kuchera leads the enemies on the trail of the underground group members....

Directed by Mechislava Mayevskaya, Aleksey Maslyukov, Partisan Spark leans on a strong ensemble — Lev Borisov, Nataliia Naum, Nikolay Zaseev-Rudenko — to carry a story that balances spectacle with character.

The film landed with audiences for its craft and performances, and remains one of the most talked-about war titles of 1957.