Two Prosecutors

Soviet Union, 1937. In a dismal prison, letters from prisoners, begging for an intervention in their cases, are burned by the thousands. Somehow, one letter – written in blood – reaches the new local prosecutor, Kornyev (Aleksandr Kuznetsov, superb). With naïve determination and an enthusiasm for justice, Kornyev sets out to meet the letter’s author – a man who has suffered torture at the hands of the secret police. It is a meeting with staggering repercussions. A vital chronicler of oppression in Russian history, Loznitsa has moved fluidly between fiction and documentary over his career. Here, working with phenomenal actors in a meticulously, beautifully staged film, he provides a terrifying snapshot of an era of extreme oppression and paranoia that speaks clearly to the present. The highest scored film on the Screen International 2025 Cannes Jury Grid.