The Pioneer's Violin (1971)
Subtle coloring and an impressionistic approach to landscape distinguish this patriotic animated short set to music. After a flourishing Soviet hamlet is destroyed by Nazi planes, the sole survivor is confronted by a hulking Nazi commando in a tank. The military man tries to cajole the young violinist into repeating a jaunty harmonica melody at gunpoint but the boy strikes up a noble song of resistance instead. Stepantsev's film may romance the idea of martyrdom but it does so with a gravity not often found in similar films.
Director: Boris Stepantsev
| Directing | Boris Stepantsev | Director |
| Writing | Yuri Yakovlev | Writer |
| Sound | Mikhail Ziv | Music |
| Camera | Mikhail Druyan | Director of Photography |
| Sound | Boris Filchikov | Sound |
| Visual Effects | Yuriy Butyrin | Animation |
| Visual Effects | Anatoliy Petrov | Animation |
| Visual Effects | Viktor Shevkov | Animation |
| Visual Effects | Renata Mirenkova | Animation |
| Visual Effects | Anatoliy Abarenov | Animation |
| Visual Effects | Yuriy Kuzyurin | Animation |
| Visual Effects | Nikolay Erykalov | Animation |
| Art | Anatoly Savchenko | Art Direction |
