Russian Film Symposium 2004

Program Three: Pygmalion Productions

Wed May 5

10am Roman Kachanov: Down House, 2001. Intro by Vladimir Padunov.

2pm Sergei Chlyants on Pygmalion Productions 2.30pm Leonid Rybakov: The Book Stealers, 2003. Intro by Sergei Chlyants.

Screenings take place at 106 David Lawrence Hall.

This program will be introduced and curated by Sergei Chliants,the General Producer of Pygmalion Productions.

Pygmalion Productions was founded in 2001 and has quicklybecome one of the most active companies involved in the development of theRussian film and video industries. Its projects have included feature anddocumentary films, television serial, music videos, advertising clips, etc. Thefilm company was created jointly by Sergei Chliants and Vladimir Ignat'ev(General Director), both of whom had well-established track records in Russia'semerging private production studios.

Sergei Chliants began his career as a film director in theOdyssey Film Studio, where he shot his only film, In A Straight Line(1992). He subsequently served as the General Producer for Gor'kii Film Studioduring the mid-1990s, when the studio embarked on its series of low-budget filmproductions. During his time there he produced Nikolai Lebedev's SnakeSource (1997) and Natal'ia P'iankova's A Strange Time (1997). Healso served as the General Director of Soiuzkino, an association of filmproducers. Among the films he has produced are: Roman Kachanov's Down House (2001),Aleksandr Khvan's Carmen (2003), Il'ia Khotinenko's The Odyssey1989—The Wise Guy (2002), and Aleksandr Shein's The Mixer(2001). On occasion he has joined forces with Sergei Sel'ianov's STW FilmCompany to produce films, including Maksim Pezhemskii's Mama, Don'tGrieve! (1997), Aleksei Balabanov's Of Freaks and Men (1998), andPetr Buslov's debut film Bimmer (2003). He is currently producing KiraMuratova's newest film, The Tuner.

Vladimir Ignat'ev is a graduate of the Open Business School Universityin England, with a degree in business management. During the second half of the1990s he helped manage several film companies, including "Film Studio.RU."Among the films he has assisted in making as executive producer are Kachanov's Down House, Shein's The Mixer, and Khvan's Carmen.

Pygmalion Productions and its staff have been involved inproducing the following films:

• The Ark (Iurii Kuzin, 2002)
• The Beauty Queen, or A Very Difficult Childhood (12 episodes of a television serial, 2002)
• Bimmer (Buslov, 2003)
• Book Thieves (Leonid Rybakov, 2004)
• Carmen (Khvan, 2003)
• Down House (Kachanov, 2001)
• Happy Birthday, Lola! (Vladimir Shchegolkov, 2001)
• In A Straight Line (Chliants, 1992)
• The Mixer (Shein, 2001)
• The Odyssey 1989—The Wise Guy (Khotinenko, 2002)
• The Sky Covered in Diamonds (Valentin Pichul, 1999)
• The Sting (Evgenii Lavrent'ev, 2001)