1st page of the application, signed by Robertas Verba and Albinas Šukelis

Throughout the entire existence of the Soviet Union, the government insisted on making films about political and ideological heroes. So to get the approval of their idea of filming centenarians living in villages, the crew cheated by drawing parallels to the centenary of Lenin (leader of the Communist Party, 1922–1924). This is attested by the application for a script, where the vision of the film is described.

[document recap] In the application, there is a heroic, ideologised portrayal of the old-timers, accentuation of their supposedly political role and importance in the struggle for the future Soviet Union. 'These are the last descendants of our nation that not only have witnessed the turbulent events of the 1905 Revolution, but also remember serfdom and the uprising of 1863.'