The film is based on The Blockade Book by Ales Adamovich and
Daniil Granin. In the 1960s and 70s, the writers recorded recollections of survivors of the Siege of Leningrad. Their stories are both
forthright and harrowing. Aleksandr Sokurov filled a small recording
studio with residents of modern-day St. Petersburg from all walks of
life and age groups. They paged through the pages of The Blockade
Book, picking out and reading the stories that struck them. They were
visibly affected as they read and relived the emotions that permeate
these true stories from blockade survivors.