Based on Dina Rubina's novella of the same name, On Upper Maslovka is a successful experiment in a genre that is rare in Russian cinema today – the intellectual drama, where a unique sort of suspense is created through a tangled web of relationships and motives.

Just as rare are the protagonists themselves, who belong to a dying breed – the true intelligentsia. Petya, at one point a promising student of directing and now a thirtysomething loser whose career never took off, is a live-in caretaker for the 87-year-old Anna, a famous sculptor in the past. At times it seems like the two hate each other: Petya is infuriated by the headstrong old woman's meddling, while his bad luck and indecisiveness are a constant butt of Anna's caustic jokes. But then why have they stayed together all these years?

Yevgeny Mironov's recognition for the film:

• The Andrei Tarkovsky Award, Window to Europe National Film Festival, 2005