Outside the Mosfilm’s Pavilion No. 9, American, British and Soviet soldiers stand together — not real servicemen, but actors in Nuremberg, a feature movie about the defining international tribunal of the twentieth century.
Inside, the iconic Courtroom 600 has been reconstructed in painstaking detail — the very hall where the leaders of the Third Reich once faced judges, prosecutors and defence lawyers from across the globe. Touring the set, Sergey Naryshkin, Director of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service and head of the Russian Historical Society, remarked that the film would serve not only an artistic purpose but an educational one as well. Its screenplay is based on Forever and Ever by historian and jurist Alexander Zvyagintsev, who has devoted more than four decades to studying the Nuremberg Trials.
“The verdicts of the Nuremberg Tribunal have no statute of limitations,” Naryshkin said. “Above all, they confirmed that Nazi ideology was criminal, and that Hitler’s Germany bore full responsibility for unleashing the Second World War.”
It was the Soviet Union, he stressed, that insisted the Nazi leaders should be judged through a proper legal process. The tribunal became, in his words, a true “Court of Nations.” Appropriately, Nurembergitself is an international production, featuring actors from Britain, Germany, the Czech Republic and France. Representing Russia in the leading roles are Sergey Bezrukov, Igor Petrenko and Evgeny Mironov.
Mironov explained the resonance of his character’s role: “There’s a monologue written for my character where he explains to the younger generation why this tribunal matters. He says it isn’t only about honouring the victims — it’s about safeguarding the future, for our children, so we never again have to prove that it was they who attacked us, not the other way round.”
Director Nikolai Lebedev emphasised his determination to preserve authenticity, carefully recreating the smallest details. Yet he stressed that Nuremberg is not conceived as a mere historical reconstruction but as a profoundly human story.
“These may be distant events, but people and their struggles remain the same,” Lebedev reflected. “Our protagonists are young men and women, caught by fate at the heart of history. Their lives were shaken, broken, yet they endured — and I think that speaks to us today with great immediacy.”
The film is being developed as a detective thriller with espionage elements. Its creators describe it as a gripping, visually striking adventure.
The Mosfilm crew will continue filming in Moscow until the end of July, before moving to Nuremberg itself to capture the facades of the real Palace of Justice. Scenes are also planned inside the prison where the defendants were once held. Nuremberg is slated for release next year.