New York, NY - June 21, 2009 - Kino International is proud to announce the theatrical release of The Vanished Empire (2008), the latest feature film by Russian filmmaker Karen Shakhnazarov (Jazzmen, Zero City, The Rider Named Death).

Following the film's US premiere at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, where The Vanished Empire closed the director's first comprehensive retrospective in the United States, Kino International is giving Shakhnazarov's contemplation on Soviet youth a nationwide commercial run.

Set to open on July 10, 2009, at the Quad Cinemas in New York City, The Vanished Empire will also play in Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle and other urban centers throughout the Summer and Fall of 2009.

The Vanished Empire Still II
Alexander Lyapin as Sergey Narbekov and Lidia Milyuzina as Lyuda Beletskaya

A love-letter to Soviet urban life during the 1970s, The Vanished Empire centers on a high-spirited teenage love triangle: childhood friends Sergey Narbekov (Alexander Lyapin) and Stepan Molodsov (aka Styopa, played by Yegor Baranovsky) both fall for the beautiful Lyuda Beletskaya (Lidiya Milyuzina) - and as a result, are forced to re-evaluate their childhood attachments.

In the background of this life-altering romance, Soviet culture (and the Soviet state machine) is at the peak of its power and on the verge of an irreversible collapse. As the three youngsters struggle with the typical teenage discoveries, which include the triad of sex, drugs, and rock and roll, the overarching Soviet ideology that shaped their childhood begins to lose its power in the face of a bigger cultural change.

Stealing antique Russian books and selling them at a used bookstore has become a habit (and means of survival) for Sergey; with the profits, he manages to purchase a new pair of jeans or the latest Rolling Stones' album in the local black market. And while the police actively condemn the illegal exchange of western goods, they seem resigned to simply repress, but not stop, what is already an irrevocable part of Russian daily life.

Winner of two Russian Golden Eagle Awards for Best Director (Karen Shakhnazarov) and Best Supporting Actor (Armen Djigarkhanyan), The Vanished Empire is an "absolutely sublime" (20/20 Filmsight) examination of a unique moment in Soviet history. (The Golden Eagle awards are given by the Russian Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.)