For our first film of the month, it's My Friend Ivan Lapshin, directed by Aleksei German.

The film stars Andrei Boltnev, Nina Ruslanova, and Andrey Mironov.

Ally is joined by filmmaker and podcaster Martin Kessler, who co-hosts Flixwise Canada. He has also written a series of in-depth essays on Aleksei German and his films published by film site The Pink Smoke.

SPOILERS from about 23 minutes in until the end.

If you'd like to get in touch and tell us what you thought of the film and/or the podcast episode, here are some ways you can do that:

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