Its main character, a 10-year old boy named Alyosha, spends lonely weekends in the boarding school he attends. It's then that he saves a hen from the cook... That night, the hen takes Alyosha to the underground kingdom of half-sized folk, where she assumes the form of the king's minister. Though Alyosha has failed to follow all the minister hen's instructions, he's rewarded by the hen with a magic seed for saving her life. The seed allows him to recite lessons without studying! But the day comes when he loses the seed and is punished for his sudden lack of proficiency. He betrays his underground friends, who are forced to move away. The moral lesson of this magical story: it's hard to serve two masters...

Made in 1980 and starring some of the greatest Russian actors (Valentin Gaft, Evgeniy Evstigneev and others), the film received several awards at prestigious film festivals in Russia (then USSR), Italy and France.

Runtime: 69 minutes. Choice of audio tracks: Russia (Dolby Digital 5.1), French (Mono). Choice of subtitles: Russia, English, Spanish, French, German, Italian.

Format: DVD (NTSC). Viewable on a standard American DVD player.