Russia 1910. Leo Tolstoy lies dying in Astapovo a remote railway station.Members of the press from around the world have descended upon this sleepyhamlet to rec... » 

Russia 1910. Leo Tolstoy lies dying in Astapovo a remote railway station.Members of the press from around the world have descended upon this sleepyhamlet to record his passing for a public suddenly ravenous for celebrity news.They have been joined by a film company whose cinematographer NikolaiGribshin is capturing the extraordinary scene and learning how to wield hiscamera as a political tool. At this historic moment he comes across two men the scientist Professor Vorobev and the revolutionist Joseph Stalin whohave radical mysterious plans for the future. Soon they will accompany him ona long cold march through an era of brutality and absurdity. The Commissariatof Enlightenment is a mesmerizing novel of ideas that brilliantly links thetragedy and comedy of the Russian Revolution with the global empire of imagesthat occupies our imaginations today. «