The film “October” was supposed to present a canonical version of events connected to the victory of the Bolsheviks. To a large extent, this meant creating a “documentary illusion.” In parallel with work on the film, meetings of participants of the armed uprising were organized on October 25 at the initiative of Istpart (Institute on the History of the Party). Archival documents indicate that the main goal of those meetings for filmmakers was to find everyday details, while speakers were setting forth their own memories of those days and were even trying to influence the formation of the script. These speeches reflected the struggle (which entered the final stage at that time) against the influence of L. D. Trotsky, in opposition to whom the figure of Lenin was put forward as the most important organizer of the October Revolution. Meeting participants were urged not to exaggerate the role of the Aurora . In addition, one of the meeting participants, K. A. Vasilevskii, sent several letters to Istpart and the f