Journal of Film Preservation - FIAF
Journal of Film Preservation - FIAF
Journal of Film Preservation - FIAF
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years? Currently, Iskusstvo kino (“<strong>Film</strong> art”) magazine is publishing this<br />
material in a special issue.<br />
Assuming that modern Russian cinema could greatly benefit from<br />
experiencing film history, which Gosfilm<strong>of</strong>ond can <strong>of</strong>fer in a popular<br />
festival form, we made it a matter <strong>of</strong> our special attention to introduce<br />
such a subject for “Belye Stolby - 2000”, that could attract as many<br />
modern film makers (<strong>of</strong> all generations) as possible.<br />
It goes without saying that Gosfilm<strong>of</strong>ond <strong>of</strong> Russia could not abstain<br />
from the general Russian celebration <strong>of</strong> Alexander Pushkin’s bicentennial.<br />
Moreover, the great Russian poet was one <strong>of</strong> the first “script<br />
writers” for early Russian cinema. Anyone at least casually acquainted<br />
with Russian pre-revolution films would immediately notice the limited<br />
number <strong>of</strong> authors and subjects for early film plots. Russian classics were<br />
the easiest and the richest source for film librettos. Pushkin’s tales,<br />
poems and stories had by that time been so naturally implanted in the<br />
public consciousness, that every new filmmaker could freely treat them<br />
as folk tales.<br />
Nonetheless, even in this respect the “Belye Stolby - 99” organisers<br />
managed to demonstrate some originality. Paying tribute to Russian<br />
screen classics, we, however, concentrated on Pushkin “seen from<br />
abroad”. The festival audience had the unique opportunity to compare<br />
three versions <strong>of</strong> “Skazka o rybake i rybke” (“Tale <strong>of</strong> the Fisherman and<br />
the Fish”) : the Russian, Czech and Polish ones. The basic idea was to<br />
refute the widespread notion, that Alexander Pushkin was only a Russian<br />
cultural reality. The festival tribute to the great Russian poet initiated a<br />
large Gosfilm<strong>of</strong>ond project, which would comprise TV series<br />
(negotiations are under way with the Kultura TV channel), film shows<br />
across Russia and publication <strong>of</strong> a Pushkin film dictionary.<br />
One <strong>of</strong> the special guests <strong>of</strong> “Belye Stolby - 99” was Kazuo Yamada from<br />
the Japanese International <strong>Film</strong> Library, who introduced early films by<br />
Akira Kurosava, which in 1999 were publicly screened in Russia for the<br />
first time. Being in such close proximity to film treasures and quite<br />
depressed by the low cultural level <strong>of</strong> modern Russian TV films, some <strong>of</strong><br />
the Gosfilm<strong>of</strong>ond researchers could not resist the temptation and tried to<br />
produce short compilation films themselves. Gosfilm<strong>of</strong>ond management<br />
gladly welcomed this initiative, since we see the promotion <strong>of</strong> our vast<br />
collection as an activitiy <strong>of</strong> primary importance.<br />
“Belye Stolby - 99” introduced three short compilations by Natalia<br />
Yakovleva and Ivan Tverdovskii devoted to Palestine, the “Titanic”<br />
catastrophe and the Paris deluge <strong>of</strong> 1910. All films were made <strong>of</strong> unique<br />
archival materials, edited and accompanied by music. The festival also<br />
showed other documentaries, which used Gosfilm<strong>of</strong>ond film materials.<br />
We certainly understand that the “Belye Stolby” festival <strong>of</strong> archival films<br />
will never be as sparkling and pompous as the Moscow International<br />
<strong>Film</strong> Festival, or KINOTAVR, which is held in Sochi, on the Black Sea<br />
coast, with its beaches and hot sun and a lot to do outside festival<br />
facilities. But this year’s financial support by such solid companies as<br />
95 <strong>Journal</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Film</strong> <strong>Preservation</strong> / 58/59 / 1999<br />
Festival de cine en Belye Stolby<br />
Desde 1997, y a pedido de críticos, cineastas<br />
e investigadores, el Gosfilm<strong>of</strong>ond de Rusia<br />
organiza un Festival de películas de archivos<br />
en Belye Stolby.<br />
A 50 kilómetros de Moscú, en pleno invierno<br />
ruso, pero a proximidad de los archivos del<br />
Gosfilm<strong>of</strong>ond, fuente inagotable de obras<br />
maestras del séptimo arte y documentos<br />
históricos, los participantes pasan largas<br />
noches viendo películas y discutiendo.<br />
Belye Stolby 1999 dedicó un ciclo a la<br />
Nouvelle Vague y a su influencia sobre el<br />
cine soviético. Otra sección importante fue,<br />
en particular, la celebración del 200°<br />
aniversario de Pushkin, con especial énfasis<br />
sobre las adaptaciones extranjeras de su<br />
obra.<br />
Convencidos de la importancia que reviste el<br />
conocimiento de la historia del cine para la<br />
creación contemporánea, los responsables<br />
del Gosfilm<strong>of</strong>ond desean suscitar un mayor<br />
interés por este festival y esperan atraer un<br />
mayor número de participantes para Belye<br />
Stolby 2000.