Approaching the Future

The hero of the film, academician Sergei Vasilyevich Lunin, director of the Kiev Research Institute of Informatics, is working on the implementation of the Unity project in the enterprises of a single department. According to his calculations, this global information network should significantly reduce the number of intermediate instances and, accordingly, the decision-making time. Lunin has opponents. Despite a sharp deterioration in health, the hero goes to the Novogorsk Tractor Plant and there he finds out the real reason for the downtime, and, consequently, the reason for hiding the data. Knowing that he has only six months to live, Lunin abandons the operation and does everything possible to protect his project.

Directed by Suren Shakhbazyan, Approaching the Future leans on a strong ensemble — Marina Levtova, Vyacheslav Tikhonov, Boris Khaleyev — 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 drama titles of 1986.