PHOTO: the producer and cast at the City Lights International
Film Festival, held in St. Petersburg on 29th August 2026

On 29th August 2026, the world premiere of the new historical drama film “The Romanovs: Devotion and Betrayal” took place at the the City Lights International Film Festival in St. Petersburg.

The screening of the film gathered about a thousand spectators. Due to the high interest in the film, the organizers had to hold an additional screening of the highly anticpated film.

Recall that the Russian-language historical drama sheds light on the role of foreign intelligence services and the betrayal of the Tsar’s inner circle, including Nicholas II’s own relatives and generals.

The premieres of “The Romanovs: Devotion and Betrayal” will be held next month in cities across the Russian Federation: on 21st September at Mosfilm in Moscow, on 22nd September in Tobolsk, on 23rd September in Tyumen, on 24th September in Ekaterinburg, on 25th September in Perm, and on 26th September in Surgut.

PHOTO: this very moving still from the film depicts Emperor Nicholas II with his son and heir Tsesarevich Alexei Nikolaevich. We see a loving father having a heart to heart with his son. The scene was filmed in the Tsar’s New Study in the Alexander Palace at Tsarskoye Selo.

Film producer Oleg Urushev said that he believes that half of the potential viewers of the historical drama The Romanovs. Devotion and Betrayal will attend the premiere “infected with Bolshevik historiography.”

During the past year, the filming and production of the historical drama has received wide-spread media attention and ignited a flurry of discussion on social media and in Russia, in which more than 500 thousand people have already taking part.

Urushev believes that more than half of the potential audience will view his film with the already negative assessment of Russia’s last Tsar, “which is of course based on Bolshevik historiography, according to which Nicholas II was bloody, and the Bolsheviks themselves, of course, are wonderful,” notes the producer.

“Although, to be honest, the bloodiest period in the history of Russia was the Bolshevik period. Under Nicholas II, our country was number one in wheat production, and five years later the Bolsheviks were able to create a famine and starve the country,” he said during a panel discussion, as part of the film festival.

Urushev is hopeful that his film will change the negative held opinions of those who attend the premieres across Russia with a more honest assessment of Russia’s much slandered Tsar.

URTHER READING

‘The Romanovs: Devotion and Betrayal’ – Trailer (2026)

The first trailer for the historical drama “The Romanovs: Devotion and Betrayal” has been released. The Russian-language film sheds light on the role of foreign intelligence services and the betrayal of the Tsar’s inner circle, including Nicholas II’s own relatives and generals.

© Paul Gilbert. 29 August 2026