Savoniha: A Siberian "Old Believer" 1996

Directed by Costanzo Allione

Savoniha belongs to the “Old Believers,” a sect of the Russian Orthodox Church that was exiled to Buryatia, Siberia, a few centuries ago. Since then, they never ceased to be persecuted. Savoniha, who was 95 years old when this documentary was filmed, witnessed Stalin’s anti-religious campaign, losing her father, one of the main spiritual representatives of the Siberian Old Believers.