«The Return of the Prodigal Son» is the first volume from the film (novel) of Anatoli Vassiliev’s «Empire» inside the Dau cycle. The story is about inner kinship, which is much closer than blood, about inevitable betrayal, about almost fatherly love and forgiveness. Cigarettes (papirossa), images from «Faust» and «Don Juan», walks in the Soviet Park of culture... And a terrible, narrow gap inside the brutal regime where you have to be skilled enough to survive... Yes! and they also play gorodki (skittles) with childish passion!
| Art | Denis Shibanov | Production Design |
| Directing | Ilya Khrzhanovsky | Director |
| Writing | Ilya Khrzhanovsky | Screenplay |
| Directing | Anatoly Vasiliev | Director |
| Production | Sergey Adonyev | Producer |
| Production | Asya Smekalova | Casting |
| Costume & Make-Up | Jekaterina Oertel | Makeup & Hair |
| Camera | Jürgen Jürges | Director of Photography |
| Writing | Anatoly Vasiliev | Screenplay |
| Sound | Zakhar Semirkhanov | Sound |
| Sound | Stefan Smith | Sound |
| Production | Inna Schorr | Casting |
| Sound | Maksym Demydenko | Sound |
| Sound | Rob Walker | Sound |
| Sound | Alexey Slyusarchuk | Sound Editor |
