The Oath

An impressing war drama, a story of life and heroism of Naum Balapan – an academic psychiatrist, Doctor of Medicine, a chief doctor of the Sevastopol psychiatric hospital since 1922. With the help of his wife he saved innocent people during repressions and later during the Nazi occupation until his tragic death in 1942.

Production: Russia, 2020
Duration: 125 min / 4×50 min
Directed by: Roman Nesterenko
Cast: Alexander Bargman, Anna Vartanyan, Dmitriy Gotsdiner, Igor Garbuzov, Alyona Kozyreva, Nikolay Serdcev, Artem Bolotovskii, Kristina Stefanovic, Vladimir Roganov, Olga Kalmykova, Svetlana Pavlova, Marina Denisova, Vasili Mishchenko, Yuriy Tsurilo

Content type: Series

 

Press & reviews:

 

  • The Oath is at its strongest as a conflicted meditation on violence and madness. The sheer arbitrariness of violence and salvation, redemption and retribution in these horrific times looms large.”
    Kinokultura, review by  Frederick C. Corney (2022)

 

 

Festivals:

 

  • 2021, spring – JIFF (Jewish International Film Festival), Australia [link]
  • 2021, December – represented at Russian Film Week in London (United Kingdom) [link] [link]
  • 2021, December – Golden Unicorn Award nomination [link]

 

Trailer: