Аннотация:The freedom of the media became the most striking feature of the early 1990 in Russia; substantial coverage was devoted to mass persecution of political, religious or racial character. However, the general public appeared to be reluctant to give serious attention to the period of fierce repression, which began soon after the revolution in 1917 and lasted for almost forty years. Alexander Solzhenitsyn, the author of Gulag Archipelago and other books about this probably the most tragic part of the Russian history, remains a controversial figure even in cultured circles. That is why the release in 2006 of the TV series In the First Circle based on the 1968 autobiographical novel by Solzhenitsyn, directed by Gleb Panfilov and narrated by Solzhenitsyn himself, became such a significant event in both social and cinematic terms. The paper looks at the ideas expressed by the actors and filmmakers and at reactions to the series on the part of the academic, media and political community. The current political situation in Russia seems to increase the contemporary relevance of the series: it reminds the viewers about hard moral and political choices they may face in a foreseeable future.