Alfred Schnittke as a composer of film music - that is a fact well known to anyone who has ever been concerned with Alfred Schnittke. However, only very few people are familiar with his actual work in the film music genre. This is all the more surprising since on the one hand, Alfred Schnittke wrote more than 60 film scores between 1961 and 1984, and on the other hand, his poly-stylistic techniques found a nearly perfect equivalent in film. Since Alfred Schnittke, like many contemporary composers in the USSR, suffered from artistic regimentation, his works could often only be performed under difficult circumstances, and his work for film therefore contributed significantly to his livelihood.