They Fought for Their Country (Russian: Они сражались за Родину, romanized: Oni srazhalis' za Rodinu) is a 1975 Soviet war film in two parts based on the eponymous novel written by Mikhail Sholokhov and directed by Sergei Bondarchuk. It was entered into the 1975 Cannes Film Festival. The film is the story of a Soviet platoon fighting a rearguard action during the German drive on Stalingrad. The film was selected as the Soviet entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 49th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.