Producer – Austin Hoyt

In Production

This documentary film is about the efforts of the American Relief Administration to combat starvation in the new Soviet Union from 1921-23.

When a devastating famine descended on Bolshevik Russia in 1921, the United States responded with a massive two year relief campaign that battled starvation and disease and saved millions of lives. By summer 1922, American kitchens were feeding nearly eleven million Soviet citizens a day. At the time, the American rescue operation was hailed as the “beau geste of the 20th century.” Today, it is all but forgotten.

The nearly 300 American relief workers became the first outsiders to break through Russia’s isolation to witness and record the impact of the Revolution. These young relief workers had unrestricted access to all classes of Russian society – from impoverished former aristocrats to the poorest peasants.

It is, above all, an American adventure story, set in exotic Bololand, as the relief workers called Bolshevik Russia. Dubbed the “Big Show” by those who served, which has been in eclipse for two generations, this story can finally be presented to a wide American audience.