Nikolai Ekk (born Yury Ivakin) was a Soviet theatre and film director, screenwriter, and cinema innovator. Born in 1902 in Riga, he began his creative path as an actor and director-laborant in Vsevolod Meyerhold's theatre. In 1926, he organized the METLA theatre (Moscow United Theatrical Lenin Artel), and in 1927, he graduated from the directing department of the State Technical Institute of Cinematography. Nikolay Ekk entered history as the creator of the first Soviet feature-length sound film, "Road to Life" (1931), which won an award at the 1st Venice International Film Festival. He also directed the first Soviet color film, "The Nightingale" (1936). During the Great Patriotic War, while in evacuation in Tashkent, he was removed from film work but continued his creative activity by directing a number of plays for the political department of the Central Asian Military District. The Bakhrushin Theatre Museum's online collection features an edit decision list for Nikolai Ekk's film "Road to Life" and other materials related to the director's work.