New Russia/New Cinema

This series of contemporary films from the New Russian Cinema is being screened by the Carnegie Museum of Art in conjunction with the First Annual Pittsburgh Russian Film Symposium.

Land of the Deaf.

Thursday, May 6, 7:00 pm

Sunday, May 23, 7:00 pm

This highly acclaimed criminal/love drama follows the adventures of two women who find themselves thrown together to navigate their way through two disparate, yet intersecting worlds – the hostile world of the Moscow mafia and the silent w orld of the deaf. The adventure begins when Rita, a young woman pawned to the mob by her debt-ridden boyfriend, is rescued and taken in by Yaya, an obstinate deaf woman, masterfully played by Dina Korzun. Aleksandr Aigi's award winning musical score and I uri Shaigardanov's evocative location photography impart a latent, otherworldly atmosphere to the film's fast-paced narrative.

(Russia, 1998) 115 min.

Written and Directed by Valerii Todorovskii.

In Russian with English subtitles. Introduced by Michael Brewer. A sign-translator will be present for the introduction and discussion following the film (for the May 6th screening only).

 

 Of Freaks and Men

Friday, May 7, 7:00 pm

Friday, May 21, 8:00 pm

Balabanov's meticulously crafted, sepia-toned film is a unique mélange of perversity and nostalgia. Unnerving, playful, and darkly humorous, the narrative, inspired by a collection of vintage erotic photographs, details the corrupti ng influence of erotica on two upper-class turn-of-the-century St. Petersburg families.

(Russia, 1999) 93 min.

Written and Directed by Aleksei Balabanov.

In Russian with English subtitles. Introduced by Jane Feuer (for the May 7th screening only).

 

Three Stories.

Saturday, May 8, 7:00 pm

Sunday, May 16, 7:00 pm

This complex and controversial film is the latest offering by Kira Muratova, perhaps the most respected and critically acclaimed female filmmaker in Russia, and the last of Russia's 1960s generation of auteurs. Muratova presents us with th ree stories of three women and three murders. Critics have characterized the film as "Crime without Punishment." Muratova refuses to preach or to take sides. The narratives she chooses, and the gaps in the cinematic structure, force the viewer to n avigate the chaos alone.

(Russia, 1997) 114 min.

Directed by Kira Muratova.

In Russian with English subtitles. Introduced by Mikhail Iampolskii (for the May 8th screening only)

Drumiad

Sunday, May 9, 2:00 pm

Friday, May 14, 8:00 pm

An epic, postmodern reading of Russian history. The picaresque narrative follows a simpleton drum player in a funerary orchestra who loses his job and sets off on a journey that leads him both physically and allegorically through Russo-Sov iet history. His beat-up old drum "Stradivarius" is his constant companion, following him like a lost puppy, and propelling him from one tragicomical situation into the next. The musical score includes works by Beethoven, Mozart, Mugsorskii, Gavrilin, and Glinka.

 (Russia, 1993) 93 min.

Directed by Sergei Ovcharov.

Silent with Russian Credits. Introduced by Nancy Condee. A sign-translator will be present for the introduction and discussion following the film (for the May 9th screening only).

All films in the "New Russia/New Cinema" series will be screened in the auditorium at the Carnegie Museum of Art at 4400 Forbes Avenue.

General admission $5; 4$ for students, seniors, and members of the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh. For more information, contact the Carnegie Museum of Art's Department of Film and Video at 622-3212 or visit their web page at http://www.clpgh.org/cma/films.

For information on the series of new experimental Russian short films and animations – "New Russia/New Experiments – to be screened at Pittsburgh Filmmakers, visit http://www.pitt. edu/~slavic/film_symposium/1999/newexper.html or http://www.pghfilmmakers.org. For information on the open public forum "New Russia/New Directors" featuring Aleksandr Bashirov [Iron Heel of O ligarchy], Petr Lutsik [Borderland], and Larissa Sadilova [Happy Birthday], visit http://www.rusfilm.pitt.edu/1999/newdirect.html or http://www.pghfilmmakers.org.