On 28 December, the world marks the day the motion picture industry was born. Russia's No. 1 Exhibition has prepared an online programme for the occasion, which is to premiere the weekend before the date. Film lovers are welcome to attend a series of themed lectures, offered by the Film Museum and the Knowledge. VDNH project, without leaving their home.
On Saturday, 26 December, at 5:00 p.m., the Film Museum invites film lovers for an online talk entitled Harry Potter and the Works of the Magical Film Universe. Join the movie buff Alisa Mamedova in trying to unravel the secret of the Harry Potter series' magic spell on the audience, parse the directing techniques and stylistic distinctions of each film of the series, find out how the creators processed the sound and, ultimately, revisit the events of your favourite series one more time.
The talk on Sunday, 27 December, at 5:00 p.m., Three Nuts for Cinderella vs Morozko, will discuss what makes these Soviet New Year's Season classics so popular. The author and host of the Cinema Fantasy Chronicles series, Candidate Doctor of Art History and film historian Nina Sputnitskaya will reveal how the images of the unforgettable Nastenka, side-splitting Marfusha and cranky Baba Yaga were created, and why the characters of Morozko are so popular in the Czech Republic but incomprehensible to US audiences. In the second part of the programme, viewers will hear the story of the film Three Nuts for Cinderella and learn the secret of its unfailing success with several generations of viewers around the world.
28 December will see the launch of a lecture series on film history, offered by the Knowledge. VDNH project. The online talks will be hosted by film critic Dmitry Yelagin. The Monday lecture will be devoted to the 'Christmas film' genres. It is customary in all Christendom to release new Christmas themed films around Christmas Season every year to inspire festive sentiment. The perennial favourites are also screened during the Winter Holiday Season. Christmas themed films often tell a similar story and share the same mood, but every film will reflect the national character of the nation that produced it. The Christmas theme in cinematography will be explained by analysing the films Carnival Night, Dinner for One, The Grinch (Christmas Thief) and 8 Women. The programme starts at 7:00 p.m.
On 29 December at 4:00 p.m., the online programme will focus on one of the greatest films ever made in the Soviet Union, I Am Twenty by Marlen Khutsiev. The story of three young men searching for the meaning of their life on earth is told with such poignancy and insight that it becomes the manifesto of an entire generation and a veritable encyclopaedia of life during Khrushchev's Thaw. Research Secretary of the Film Museum Maksim Semyonov will engage viewers in a discussion on how the film relates to the foregoing cinematographic tradition, and its place in Khutsiev's work.
On 5 January at 4:00 p.m., film lovers are invited to attend a lecture offered by the Knowledge. VDNH project, timed to honour the 80th jubilee of Hayao Miyazaki, the legendary Japanese director of animated feature films. The viewers get a chance to trace Miyazaki's entire filmography, from the animated feature film Princess Mononoke to the film How Do We Live?, on which the director is working at this time. The participants will discuss the important issues the director raises in his films, such as the artist's responsibility for his creations, which other people may try to exploit to nefarious ends.
Russia's marks Children's Film Day on 8 January. The children's film lecture at 4:00 p.m. will discuss the Shrek series. The DreamWorks founders, who had prior track records with The Walt Disney Company, plotted a revolution after their successful but traditional debut, The Prince of Egypt. That revolution had a name: Shrek. Instead of a helpless princess, a knight in shiny white armour, a castle and a white horse, we have feisty Fiona, Shrek the crotchety ogre, a house in the moorlands and a donkey. The viewers will join film critic Dmitry Yelagin in the effort to unravel the many levels of meaning to the story, where ideas are hidden behind effervescent childish and not-so-childish humour and multiple references to other works.
The marathon will end on 9 January with another online event hosted by the Film Museum: The Grinch and the Who's Who of Christmas Thieving and New Year's Sabotage. Start time: 5:00 p.m. Together with film historian Nina Sputnitskaya, viewers will recall all the fabulous villains of Christmas film: The Grinch, Belsnickel, Terry Pratchett's characters, Pitch Black, the Snow Queen and all the rest of them. Some other subjects to be discussed during the film night are: how evil characters can be appealing, and why they are so popular in the contemporary children's culture.
All lectures will be delivered on the Zoom platform. Tickets for the Film Museum events on 26, 27, 29 December and 9 January are available on the museum's website. The tickets are RUB 100 each. Tickets become unavailable one hour before the event starts. The Knowledge. VDNH project events are free. Full attendance at the online events on 28 December, 5 and 8 January, which includes the option of asking questions, requires prior registration for the event of viewer's choice on the official website. The Knowledge. VDNH lectures will also stream on the VDNH VKontakte community, where they can be watched without prior registration.