Borys Kallash-Verbytskyi

About the uprising of Ukrainian peasants under the leadership of the national hero Karmelyuk against landowners and Polish gentry. In the 1830s, Young Count Piglovsky returns to his estate from Paris. The carriage in which he is riding is surrounded by rebellious peasants. Their attempt to hang the master is canceled almost at the last moment, because it is not the count in the carriage, but his lackey - Ustym Karmelyuk. Ustym really serves as a lackey in the count's house and at the same time leads a peasant uprising. The government sends the army. In a fierce fight, Karmelyuk is almost captured, but he is saved by one of the serfs.

A group of peasant farmers in turn-of-the-century Ukraine leaves home in search of better luck in Siberia. The story follows those who stay behind and their dispute with the landowner, as well as a love triangle involving a local beauty and two young men.

The film is based on V. Yurezanskyi’s novel The Missing Village about the struggle of Ukrainian Cossacks for their freedom during the reign of Catherine II. Free Cossacks from the village of Turbai in Poltava region, who were included in registers of Myrhorod Pact, suddenly find out that at the order of Catherine II they become the property of the Ukrainian landlord, pan Bazylevskyi. He treats Cossacks like his usual serfs. Cossacks ask the empress for help, but receive no reply. Then, they rebel and set Bazylevskyi’s estate on fire. The owner and his family die during the fire. The vengeance of the Russian empress is terrible, as dozens of Cossacks are beaten to death, and the village of Turbai is doomed to destruction. The film is lost.