Automat Kalashnikov

Documentary about Mikhael T. Kalashnikov, inventior of the AK-47 assault rifle. The story of a tragic hero whose name will be synonymous with struggle and terrorism forever. Axel Engstfeld and Herbert Habersack tell the extraordinary life story of a man and his death-bringing invention. Michael T. Kalaschnikow developed a self-taught weapon during the Second World War that went down in history as the AK-47 or "Kalaschnikow". Its designer, who has since died, was born in the Altai and exiled to Siberia with his family, most recently lived in Izhevsk on the Urals, the Soviet Union's long-standing secret armaments centre. This patriotic old man, who is also disappointed in Russia, talks openly about his past and gives an insight into his everyday life. While he has to make do with a modest pension of 70 DM per month, 70 million copies of his weapon are scattered across the globe.