THE Tanks Know the Truth

The Tanks Know the Truth reflects in condensed form the unrest, first in Ekibastuz labour camp from 1951 to 1952 (up to the storming of the camp’s internal prison), and then in Kengir (the episodes depicting the uprising and its suppression). The events in Ekibastuz are drawn from the author’s first-hand experience, while those in Kengir are based upon accounts by prisoners of his acquaintance. Since the author could not expect that the scenario would ever be filmed in his lifetime, he intensified its visual aspect and provided detailed scene directions, so that the reader could, in effect, ‘watch’ the film as he went along. It was written in Ryazan in autumn 1959, and never fell into the hands of the KGB. Most of the characters are actual friends and acquaintances of the author from his years in the camps. But the only one to appear under his own name is Kishkin. The scenario has never been filmed. It was first published, in Russian, in 1981.           

ADDITIONAL Resources

• The Freeloader

Available Formats

The Tanks Know the Truth
This screenplay has been translated by Michael Nicholson and was published in Studies in Russian & Soviet Cinema, Volume 7, Number 1, March 2013, pp. 73-157.  It has never been set to screen. 
PDF
ingentaconnect | Download sample PDF