My Anastasia

the long version

Dunia, a Siberian peasant girl, has run away from her abusive family and is discovered by Grigory Rasputin, a wandering holy man and friend of the Romanov Imperial family. He decides to take her with him to visit the Romanovs in St. Petersburg. Although Rasputin treats Dunia well, her experience tells her that he has a very dark side. The Imperial family quickly warms to Dunia. All except Anastasia, the youngest of the Tsar's daughters. At first, the girls bicker relentlessly, but their teasing antics eventually lead to a close friendship and Dunia travels with the family across Russia. But when World War I is declared, the Imperial family's fortune and lives are in jeopardy. In the midst of the war, Rasputin is assassinated and the Tsar is soon forced to abdicate the throne. The family is taken to a small village in Siberia, where guards patrol day and night andeventually cut off contact between Dunia and the family. Her attempts to rescue the family are fruitless, and she wakes one morning to find that Anastasia and the family she loved so much have been executed. Based on true events, My Anastasia is a touching and tragic historical tale about a friendship that grows between two young girls from entirely different worlds.