Faces of the Series

ALEXEY SEREBRYAKOV

Alexey Serebryakov was born on July 3, 1964, in Moscow. He is a Soviet, Russian, Canadian, and international theater and film actor.

His mother was a doctor, and his father was an aviation engineer. In childhood, he attended music school, studying the bayan (accordion). A chance photograph for a report in the newspaper Evening Moscow led him to acting: a director’s assistant, looking for an actor resembling Vadim Spiridonov, cast Alexey in the film Father and Son and later in the Soviet television series Eternal Call.

In 1981, after failing to enroll in the Boris Shchukin Theater Institute, he worked as an actor at the Syzran Drama Theater named after A.N. Tolstoy.

In 1986, Serebryakov graduated the Lunacharsky State Institute for Theater Arts (GITIS) under Oleg Tabakov’s mentorship. From 1986 to 1991, he was an actor at the Tabakov Studio Theater.

In 2000, he gained wide recognition for his role as criminal boss Oleg Zvantsov (“The Lawyer”) in the TV series Bandit Petersburg. In 2004, he played the lead role of combat commander Vasily Tverdokhlebov in the series Penal Battalion, solidifying his reputation as an actor adept at portraying complex and morally ambiguous characters.

In 2014, Serebryakov starred in the internationally acclaimed film Leviathan. His performance earned him a nomination for the European Film Academy Award, marking him as the second Russian actor in history to receive such recognition. In 2016, he starred in the Russian adaptation of House M.D., titled Doctor Richter.

In 2012, Alexey Serebryakov emigrated to Canada with his family. He cited the growing aggression and intolerance in Russian society and the disregard for citizens’ basic rights as the main reasons for his move. In an interview, he expressed his desire for his children to grow up in a society where knowledge, hard work, kindness, and tolerance are valued over aggression and arrogance.

In 2018, in an interview with Yuri Dud, Serebryakov openly criticized the state of modern Russia, stating that the national ideals had become «strength, arrogance, and rudeness.» His remarks sparked significant discussion on social media, drawing both criticism and support.
After the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Serebryakov continued to actively speak out against Russian policies and advocate for democratic values.

In 2024, the film Anora, in which Serebryakov starred, won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival.

The main character in three episodes of our series:

• Part 1: HISTORY OF GULAG
• Part 6: ESCAPE FROM GULAG
• Part 8: KOLYMA
• Part 16: HEIRS OF STALIN

LIDIYA BOYKO

Born on February 10, 1946, in the village of Trypillia near Kyiv.

Lidiya’s childhood took place in the difficult post-war years. Her parents lived and worked in Kyiv, where food and housing were scarce. Until the third grade, she was raised by her grandmother near Chernihiv—this period remained the brightest memory of her childhood. Later, she returned to Kyiv, where she completed her schooling.

From an early age, she was passionate about mathematics and physics, dreaming of becoming an astronomer or nuclear physicist. She also loved music, learned to play the bayan, and actively participated in school performances.

After high school, she enrolled in the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics at Kyiv State University, but after a year, she realized that her true calling was the stage. She passed the entrance exams and was accepted into the Kyiv National University of Theatre, Cinema, and Television named after I.K. Karpenko-Kary, graduating in 1969.

After completing her studies, she was assigned to the Russian Drama Theater in Dnipro. She later worked at the Novokuznetsk, Tula, and Stavropol theaters.

In 1976, she was invited to Moscow to join the Taganka Theatre. Working with outstanding directors such as Yuri Lyubimov and Anatoly Efros became a unique school of acting for her. It was there that she fully understood the meaning of the famous phrase: «Love the art in yourself, not yourself in the art.»

In 1990, she emigrated to Canada and settled in Toronto. She became part of the Russian-speaking theater community and collaborated with Olga Shvedova’s theater studio. Over the years, she played numerous roles in both classical and contemporary plays and appeared in several films.

The main character of five episodes of our series:

• Episode 2: ARREST
• Episode 3: INTERROGATION
• Episode 4: PRISON
• Episode 5: GUARDS
• Episode 7: LABOR IN THE CAMP

ANNA VARPAKHOVSKAYA

Anna Varpakhovskaya was born on June 11, 1949, in Magadan, Kolyma. She is a Soviet, Russian, Canadian, and Ukrainian theater and film actress. She is the daughter of director Leonid Varpakhovsky (1908–1976) and singer Ida Samuilovna Ziskina (1911–1999).

In 1971, she graduated from the Boris Shchukin Theatre Institute at the Vakhtangov Theatre and joined the troupe of the Moscow Drama Theatre named after K.S. Stanislavsky, where she worked until 1994.

In 1994, she emigrated with her family to Canada, settling in Montreal, where she co-founded the Leonid Varpakhovsky Russian Theater with director Grigory Ziskin. The theater staged productions for Russian-speaking audiences in Canada and the United States. The troupe included professional actors living in North America, as well as invited performers from Russia.

In the late 2010s, Anna moved to Kyiv, where she collaborated with the Actor Theater from 2013 to 2016. From 2006 to 2022, she performed in productions at the Lesya Ukrainka Russian Drama Theater in Kyiv. Over the course of her career, she played numerous roles in both classical and modern plays and appeared in 20 TV films.

After the outbreak of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine in 2022, Anna returned to Montreal. Her life and career span four countries, multiple eras, and reflect the unique journey of a remarkable actress.

The main character of five episodes of our series:
• Episode 9: BUTOVO SHOOTING RANGE
• Episode 10: MOTHER’S DIARY. THE PRISON STAGE
• Episode 11: ARRIVAL AT THE CAMP. SORTING OF PRISONERS
• Episode 12: THEATER BEHIND BARS
• Episode 13: LOVE AGAINST ALL ODDS

ANASTASIA POGORELOVA

Born on April 17, 1992, in Moscow. Canadian and Russian opera singer (coloratura soprano), actress.
Grew up in Zhukovsky, near Moscow. In 2010, she graduated from the Galina Vishnevskaya College of Music and Theatrical Arts, performing in Russia and abroad. In 2015, she graduated from the Gnessin Russian Academy of Music (class of People’s Artist of the RSFSR Valentina Levko).

Since 2016, she has been living in Canada, performing on operatic, concert, and theater stages. Her repertoire includes the roles of Queen of the Night (The Magic Flute), The Foreigner (The Consul), La Musica (Orpheus), and Atalanta (Xerxes). She has worked with Toronto Concert Orchestra, Elora Singers, and performed in the Concert of the Senses project. In the 2024–2025 season, she is a member of the VOICEBOX. Opera in Concert choir.

In addition to classical singing, she is passionate about folk and bard songs, having recorded the album «Songs of Beloved Bards.» She is also involved in voice acting, teaching, ethnographic jazz projects, and collaborates with theater companies.

Played the role of Ida Varpakhovskaya in the project «GULAG. Witnesses.»

• Episode 10: MOTHER’S DIARY. TRANSFER
• Episode 11: ARRIVAL AT THE CAMP. SELECTION
• Episode 12: THEATER BEHIND BARS
• Episode 13: LOVE AGAINST ALL ODDS

LILYA SKLYAR

Actress, theater director, journalist, poet. Laureate of the Ernest Hemingway Literary Award for the poetry collection «Cardboard Cities». Organizer and head of the «Amazing Cat» Art Center for Russian-speaking adults in Toronto, the North American Literary Festival «Poetry on Niagara», and the International Theater Festival «Na Bis!» (Toronto).

Born in Birobidzhan, the capital of the Jewish Autonomous Region. Graduated from the Faculty of Preschool Pedagogy and Psychology at Komsomolsk-on-Amur Pedagogical Institute, the Faculty of Journalism at the Far Eastern University, directing courses at the St. Petersburg Academy of Theater Arts, as well as acting and directing laboratories of the Russian Theater Union in Finland and Zvenigorod.

In 1992, she emigrated to Israel, and in 2006 — to Canada. She worked in the media in the Russian Far East and Israel. In 2012, she founded an Art Center and an amateur theater in Toronto.

She has staged more than 20 original productions, inspired by the works of Russian poets and writers whose names remain largely unknown to the general public. One of her most significant productions was «Asteroid – 2408», based on the works of writers and poets who were victims of the GULAG. The script for this production took two years to develop, during which Lilya deeply immersed herself in studying historical materials, selecting texts, and exploring the tragic history of Stalinist repressions.

For her, participating in the project «GULAG. Witnesses» and working on the role of Susanna Pechuro became a natural continuation of her years-long reflection on the horrifying history of Stalinist repressions.

Main heroine of two episodes of our series:

• Episode 14: «The Case of the Executed Pioneers»
• Episode 15: «The Wheel of Repressions»