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Optimists (TV series 2017) – Russian feature series of 2017. Historical drama
Production: film company "Rosmedia Production", Russia, 2017
Director: A.Popogrebsky
Screenwriter: M. Shprits, M. Idov, L. Idova, E. Vanina, E. Morozov, Y. Lukshina, A. Popogrebsky
Next series: Optimists. Caribbean Season
Starring: V.Vdovichenkov, S.Yanusauskaite, A.Bystrov, E.Koreshkov,
R. Mukhametov, A. Bely, E. Brik
Duration: 13 episodes of 50 minutes each
Plot of the TV series Optimists (TV series 2017):
The series takes place in 1959, during the visit of the leader of the USSR Nikita Khrushchev to the USA. This was the first visit of the head of the USSR in the entire history of its existence. And optimists saw in this the beginning of not only a possible warming between the East and the West.
But also the peaceful existence of two completely different systems: capitalism and socialism.
A special department, the Information and Analysis Group, was created under the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Its goal was to help Soviet diplomacy speak a new, young and energetic language. An important stage in the work of the IAG was to be the meeting of heads of state in Paris, for which the IAG staff developed a system of informal meetings with the foreign press.
The head of the IAG was appointed Ruta Blaumane, a former American journalist of Latvian origin, who, having married the famous hero pilot Bykov, moved to the USSR.
The department's employees were selected to match the manager - young graduates of MGIMO. "Optimists", as they called themselves, believed in communism and the peaceful coexistence of two world value systems.
See also: Penal battalion
However, Grigory Biryukov, an employee of the international department of the Central Committee, who was demoted to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for minor “sins,” was soon appointed head of the IAG.
As a former member of the Central Committee, Biryukov adhered to conservative views in relations with the West, formed under Stalin.
«Нам не нужен мир на ваших условиях» — так формулировал Бирюков свое отношение к Западу, что было вразрез идеями Блаумане, которая теперь была всего лишь заместительницей Бирюкова.
But Biryukov did not intend to stay in the IAG for long and was planning to return to his former heights in the Central Committee, especially since his patron was an active member of the group of conspirators against Khrushchev...
