Exploding the myth that the Soviet silent cinema was limited to political propaganda, Yuri Zhelyabuzhsky’s THE CIGARETTE GIRL OF MOSSELPROM is a playful romantic comedy set on the streets of 1924 Moscow, occasionally peeking behind the scenes of the Mezhrabpom-Rus Studios.

Yuliya Solntseva stars as a tobacco vendor on the sidewalk outside Moscow’s Mosselprom Trade Center, who must juggle the attentions of three disparate suitors:  a young cameraman, a romantic and slightly zany bookkeeper, and a wealthy American industrialist.

This edition of THE CIGARETTE GIRL OF MOSSELPROM was mastered from 35mm elements restored by the Cinémathèque de Toulouse in 2007, in cooperation with L’Immagine Ritrovata and the Foundation Groupama Gan pour le Cinéma.