Stilyagi is a 2008 Russian film, named Hipsters for its American release. It is a musical

Musical film

The musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, though in some cases they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate...

 that deals with Soviet youth subculture

Youth subculture

A youth subculture is a youth-based subculture with distinct styles, behaviors, and interests. Youth subcultures offer participants an identity outside of that ascribed by social institutions such as family, work, home and school...

 "stilyagi

Stilyagi

Stilyagi was a derogatory appellation for the members of a youth subculture that existed from the late 1940s until the early 1960s in the Soviet Union. Stilyagi were primarily distinguished by their snappy or fashionable clothing, considered politically incorrect and contrary to the...

" ("hipsters" or literally "obsessed with fashion") of the 1950s.

Hipsters has been featured at the Toronto International Film Festival

Toronto International Film Festival

The Toronto International Film Festival is a publicly-attended film festival held each September in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In 2010, 339 films from 59 countries were screened at 32 screens in downtown Toronto venues...

, Nashville Film Festival

Nashville Film Festival

The Nashville Film Festival , held annually in Nashville, Tennessee, is the oldest running film festival in the South and one of the oldest in the United States. In 2009, Nashville Film Festival received close to 2000 submissions from 86 countries, programmed nearly 260 films and had an attendance...

, and the Cleveland International Film Festival

Cleveland International Film Festival

The Cleveland International Film Festival, first held in 1977, is the largest film festival in Ohio. The 2010 festival featured over 300 films. Since 1991 the festival has been held at Tower City Cinemas in downtown Cleveland.-Roxanne T...

, where it has been an audience favorite. It won the Audience Choice Award at the Anchorage International Film Festival in 2009 and several Golden Eagle Award

Golden Eagle Award

The Golden Eagle Award is an accolade by the Russian National Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences of Russia to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, directors, actors, and writers...

s and prestigious Nika Award

Nika Award

The Nika Award is a prestigious annual ceremony held by the Russian Academy of Cinema Arts and Sciences which was established in 1987 in Moscow, Russia by Yuli Gusman, and ostensibly modelled on the Academy Awards . Russian Academy Award takes its name from Nike, the goddess of victory...

s, including Best Film in both.

Synopsis

Mels, a member of Komsomol

Komsomol

The Communist Union of Youth , usually known as Komsomol , was the youth division of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The Komsomol in its earliest form was established in urban centers in 1918. During the early years, it was a Russian organization, known as the Russian Communist Union of...

 (the youth wing of Soviet Communist Party

Communist party

A political party described as a Communist party includes those that advocate the application of the social principles of communism through a communist form of government...

), helps break up a stilyagi

Stilyagi

Stilyagi was a derogatory appellation for the members of a youth subculture that existed from the late 1940s until the early 1960s in the Soviet Union. Stilyagi were primarily distinguished by their snappy or fashionable clothing, considered politically incorrect and contrary to the...

party. He briefly meets and is intrigued by a hip girl named Polly, who invites him to hang out with her friends on "Broadway." Mels is drawn into their world of colorful fashions, dancing, and loud music. He purchases a saxophone off the black market and grows out his hair. His old friends shun him, but he remains refreshingly optimistic.