A jar of jam

The documentary‑fiction short film “A jar of jam” connects the present and the past through an exploration of an archival photograph that captures a rare gift — a jar of jam — for teenagers who worked 12‑hour shifts at Stalin Factory No. 19 in Perm during the Great Patriotic War.. A modern schoolboy, Artem, tries to understand what lies behind this seemingly simple shot. His journey leads him to the stories of young workers, the factory director Anatoly Soldatov, and the factory photographer Matvey Kuznetsov, whose camera preserved the evidence of life in the rear. The central character of the film is Valya Kusakin, the youngest factory worker, a symbol of a generation deprived of childhood for the sake of a common victory.
The parallel installation of the past and the present highlights the difference between the comfort of today and the hard work of wartime children. The film's finale unfolds at the "City of Labor Valor" stele in Perm, reminding us that the memory of the feat of the home front workers is the responsibility of those who live today.