The article looks at the discussion of the film «Chapayev» by the Vasilyevs brothers in the House of the Soviet writers in November, 1934. The author introduces
a number of archival documents and analyzes the statements of the participants of the events as well as filmmakers and writers. It is argued that the vast majority of participants agreed that for the film-makers «it’s not necessary» to follow historic facts, the main
criteria for judging a film being its correspondence to «the party spirit». What explains this unanimity is the position advocated by Stalin.