The First Echelon  The First Echelon (, translit. Pervyy eshelon) is a 1955 Soviet film directed by Mikhail Kalatozov, for which Dimitri Shostakovich wrote the music. A touching romance between the Secretary of the Komsomol organization Alexey Uzorov and tractor driver Anna Zalogina on the background of Virgin Lands Campaign in Kazakhstan.