Loading...In a country where 70% of the population was illiterate, photographic propaganda often was more valuable than newspaper editorials. Lenin himself declared that the camera, as much as the gun, was an important weapon in “class struggle.” Recognizing that images had the power to transform society, Lenin put photography at the service of the Revolution — thereby serving as a historical demonstration of how artistic and political ambitions can coalesce and fortify one another. This lecture series will illustrate that this work encompassed a much wider range of artistic styles and thematic content than previously recognized.
The series in will coincide with GRAD’s exhibition Unexpected Eisenstein and all the course participants will be cordially invited to the exhibition private view.
Despite Eisenstein’s relative fame, many of these filmmakers have been overlooked or excised from the history of the medium. Our speakers will investigate the perception and representation of films in various genre in 20th century Russia.
SPEAKERS
Professor Ian Christie (Anniversary Professor of Film and Media History, University of London), Dr. Rachel Morley (Lecturer in Russian Cinema and Culture at UCL SSEES), Dr. Emma Widdis (Reader in Russian Studies, Department of Slavonic Studies, The University of Cambridge), Dr. Philip Cavendish (Reader in Russian and Soviet Film Studies at UCL SSEES), Dr. Jeremy Hicks (Chair Of Department Of Russian, Reader in Russian Culture and Film, University of London) and Carmen Gray, film critic and member of the selection committee for Critics’ Week Berlin.
PROGRAMME
February 4 – Rachel Morley Russian Cinema before 1917: the Creation of a New Art FormFebruary 18 – Ian Christie Besides Eisenstein: Protazanov, Barnet and the new Soviet cinema of the 1920s
February 18 – Ian Christie Besides Eisenstein: Protazanov, Barnet and the new Soviet cinema of the 1920sFebruary 25 – Ian Christie Maxim and co: creating the new heroes and heroines of the 1930s
February 25 – Ian Christie Maxim and co: creating the new heroes and heroines of the 1930sMarch 3 – Phil Cavendish Soviet Colour Film, 1929-1945: An Experiment Understood by Very Few
March 3 – Phil Cavendish Soviet Colour Film, 1929-1945: An Experiment Understood by Very FewMarch 10 – Emma Widdis Film and the Making of the New Soviet Person: Bodies, Minds and Feelings
March 10 – Emma Widdis Film and the Making of the New Soviet Person: Bodies, Minds and FeelingsMarch 17 – Jeremy Hicks Meaningful Martyrdom — Death, Revolution and Victory from Lenin to the Reichstag, 1924-45
March 17 – Jeremy Hicks Meaningful Martyrdom — Death, Revolution and Victory from Lenin to the Reichstag, 1924-45April 28 – Ian Christie Hopes and fears: the Soviet New Wave of the 1960s
April 28 – Ian Christie Hopes and fears: the Soviet New Wave of the 1960sMay 5 – Jeremy Hicks Remembering and Recycling Victory: Reusing War Footage in Russian and Soviet Films, 1945-2015
May 5 – Jeremy Hicks Remembering and Recycling Victory: Reusing War Footage in Russian and Soviet Films, 1945-2015May 12 – Carmen Gray Andrei Tarkovsky: The Citizen Poet and the State
May 12 – Carmen Gray Andrei Tarkovsky: The Citizen Poet and the State