Stalin’s Wife

From the director of the cult classic, Liquid Sky, comes the documentary, Stalin’s Wife, a fascinating portrait of the spouse of Russia’s most notorious dictator.

At the tender age of sixteen, Nadezhda Alliluyev (1901-1932) married Joseph Stalin, twenty three years her senior. Up to this day, historians continue the heated debate as to whether she killed herself or was murdered by Stalin. Most of the events surrounding Nadezhda's short and tragic life are as mysterious as her death. The film is an attempt to solve the riddles of the not so distant past. It weaves stories within stories, and blends commentary from remaining relatives, friends and historians, with rare archival footage. It provides a fascinating overview of the early history of the USSR at the same time exploring the myriad questions surrounding this complex relationship.

"'Stalin's Wife' is a fascinating documentary about an otherwise-forgotten character in history. It's a sad story of the woman who was married to the man who'd become amass murderer and iron-fisted dictator. How they came up with some of the footage is amazing." — Jeffrey Lyons, NBC-TV

"[A] complete eye-opening document on the Soviet dictator and his long suffering wife. ?" — Andrew Johnson, North American Film Review

"If you have the slightest curiousity about the people and the period, 'Stalin's Wife' is mandatory viewing." — Andrew Sarris, New York Observer

"With its clouds of doubt and uncertainty, 'Stalin's Wife' reminds us that history is only an official interpretation of selected facts that when examined often turn out to be educated guesses." — Stephen Holden, The New York Times

"This compelling documentary is both thought-provoking and surprising in its details." — Deborah Lynn Blumberg, FILM-FORWARD.COM