Drawing on the collections of major Russian institutions, contributions from contemporary artists and performers and personal testimony from the descendants of those involved, this film brings the artists of the Russian avant-garde to life. It tells the stories of artists like Chagall, Kandinsky and Malevich - pioneers who flourished in response to the utopian challenge of building a new art for a new world, only to be broken by implacable authority after 15 short years. With access to The State Tretyakov Gallery, The State Russian Museum and The State Hermitage Museum, the film features paintings previously banned and unseen for decades, as well as masterpieces which rarely leave Russia.