Short answers, pulled from the story.
The Cranes Are Flying won the Palme d'Or at the 1958 Cannes Film Festival. It is the only Soviet film ever to receive that award. Tatiana Samoilova also received a Special Mention for her performance at the same festival.
The Cranes Are Flying was directed and produced by Mikhail Kalatozov at Mosfilm. Viktor Rozov wrote the screenplay, and the film starred Aleksey Batalov and Tatiana Samoilova.
The Cranes Are Flying is a 1957 Soviet war drama that follows Veronika, a young Moscow woman, whose boyfriend Boris volunteers to fight in the Second World War on the 22nd of June, 1941. The film depicts the war's psychological and personal destruction through her experiences: her parents are killed in an air raid, she is raped by Boris's cousin Mark, and she spends years waiting to learn whether Boris survived.
Tatiana Samoilova took Europe by storm following the film's release. A commentator for the French Liberation contrasted her favourably with Brigitte Bardot. East German fans gave her a watch inscribed with the words "Finally we see on the Soviet screen a face, not a mask." She was also nominated for Best Foreign Actress at the 12th British Academy Film Awards.
Claude Lelouch called The Cranes Are Flying one of his favourite films, saying "I have not seen a more beautiful film from Russia. I think I have not seen a better film in principle. Not cinema, but a miracle." In his autobiography, he placed it in his personal cinema pantheon alongside Citizen Kane and Napoleon.
The Cranes Are Flying itself was nominated for Best Film from any Source at the 12th British Academy Film Awards. Tatiana Samoilova received a separate nomination for Best Foreign Actress at the same ceremony.