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 during the years between 1961 and 1984, and on the other hand, his poly-stylistic techniques found a nearly perfect equivalent in film. Since Alfred Schnittke suffered from the artistic regimentations like many contemporary composers in the USSR, and his works could often only be performed under difficult circumstances, his work for the film to a large extent contributed to his livelihood.