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Following the break up of the Soviet union, a gang of children from broken homes made a new life together inside the derelict buildings of a once secret weapons manufacturing city, near Siberia.


In their childhood innocence, they thought they were living a fairytale dream of freedom, but with starvation and sub zero temperatures crippling their health, reality soon hit home.


Despite their efforts to care for one another, three members of their group died.

For the survivors: they must try against hopeless odds to turn their lives around.






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  • A Russian Fairytale is a visually stunning film showing the awful contradiction between
    their day-to-day tooth-and-claw struggles and the fairytale dreams they desperately escape into.     Lord John Bird - Founder of The Big Issue

  • A Russian Fairytale is a brilliantly compelling and unwavering piece of filmmaking,
    quite literally going underground to show people how life really is for these youths.     Ben Nicholson - Cine-vue * * * *

  • This important social film took part in several international film festivals,
    where it managed to receive not only awards, but also audience recognition.     Ваш Досуг * * * *

  • This hard hitting documentary doesn’t pull any punches in its
    depiction of homelessness in a once prosperous Soviet city.     EditGeek



Jake Mobbs - Director / Editor

Jake is a British born filmmaker living in London where he works as a freelance video editor and colourist. His interest in Russia came about when he made a promotional film for the charity Love’s Bridge which supports children from broken homes. He teamed up with Nicolas Doldinger to bring the stories of these characters to life as a feature documentary.

Nico Doldinger - Co-Director / Cinematographer

Nico was born in Munich, Germany and studied with Jake at Bournemouth Media School. There he won the ITV Meridian Best Drama Award for his short film “The Flowerman”. After two years studying in Toronto he took up the challenge of shooting A Russian Fairytale. He is currently based in New York directing brand funded content and commercials.

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Meet the family...

Kolya

"I told my mother, if you don't stop drinking, I will jump"

Kolya comes from a broken home. He's been on the streets since he was seven after spending much of his childhood passed between his mother and grandparents. After meeting the other kids living on the streets, Kolya decided to join them. Over the years he became increasingly detatched from his family and finds he is unable to return home.

Perm City

Population: 1.1M

Perm was once a soviet weapons-building city, closed to the outside world. Approximately 1160km East of Moscow, it’s close to the Ural mountains (the geographical boarder between Europe and Asia).

The fall of the Soviet Empire meant for many families a great social decline due to the country’s industry being sold for pennies to a small group of wealthy oligarchs, leaving the rest of the population to cope with the unfamiliar concept of capitalism.

Summers are hot but the harsh Siberian winters often drop to -35°c which makes Perm a very hostile environment for those living on the streets.

Denis

"My aunt loved me, until I lost my fingers"

Denis ran away from home after his mother died and he was neglected by his alcoholic father. One winter he was beaten up and left in the snow unconscious. As a result of severe frostbite, he lost his fingers and toes. His aunt who was caring for him abandoned him after this and he became a successful beggar at the market. He later became the main breadwinner of the group whom he lives with on the streets.

Irina

"In time our group will disintegrate. Some will go to prison, some will return home."

Irina was born into an abusive family. Her mother was imprisoned for murder when she was a baby and she was neglected by her alcoholic father. She was taken into institutional care and struggled to come to terms with her new life in an orphanage so she ran away, finding other children on the streets to live with instead.

Ksusha

"I never had a real family. I came to the streets and found this family"

Ksusha has been living on the streets since she was seven. Her mother was murdered when she was young and her father became abusive. On the streets she found other youngsters with similar backgrounds.