The Russian Film Symposium Nation, Fetish, Identity commences with a historical recreation of a Soviet May Day Parade, circa 1930. The parades served as powerful advertisements, both domestic and international, of Soviet identity. The May First procession for the conference will feature marching workers' and young pioneer brigades, patriotic flags, political caricatures and colorful displays of industrial achievements and cultural campaigns invoking a fascinating period of Russian-Soviet culture. The event will also reproduce the authentic carnival atmosphere accompanying those Soviet holidays with games, amateur workers' theater and political puppet shows. While these early Soviet pageants no longer exist, the potency of the visual imagery of the parades has transcended historical boundaries. In contemporary Russian cinema and culture, the "Moscow Parades" have been transformed and repackaged into objects of parody, fetishism and nostalgia.