This book is a kind of time train. It brings together stories by eight film directors—representatives of different generations of the 20th century: T. Vulfovich, V. Dyachenko, V. Lonskoy, M. Romm, Ya. Segel, Yu. Fait, K. Shahnazarov, and G. Shpalikov. All of them are different in their beliefs, their viewpoint, their fate. But they share a deep vision of the world and the ability to convey it not only through film images, but also through words. Following one another like railcars, the stories illustrate our life at different stages: what it was during the years of the terrible war and afterward, in times of change and perestroika, and what it is now. Sad and funny, hopeful and full of despair, touching a wide range of different—and sometimes unexpected—turns of fate: they are different, as life itself is.