< < Arctic Open IFF to Open Arkhangelsk’s First Outdoor Cinema >>
The outdoor cinema, called the Arctic Open Air Cinema, will open its doors on December 4 at 7 p.m. in Arkhangelsk’s Petrovsky Park during Arctic Open IFF. The first to be screened are the documentaries and features made in 2020.
“This is going to be a unique event here in Arkhangelsk, even though outdoor cinemas have long been a common practice at, say, Norway’s Tromsø International Film Festival with similar winter weather. We thought Arkhangelsk audiences would like the idea and decided to set up an open-air screening venue in Petrovsky Park,” says Anatoly Konychev, producer at InFilm Studio and head of the Russian Filmmakers Association’s office in Arkhangelsk.
Here is what’s going to be on.
1.«Tikhaya Bay/2020/Russia/Boris Dvorkin/26 min/12+
The film follows the creation of the world’s northernmost museum dedicated to one of the pages in the history of Arctic exploration — a polar station and Franz Josef Land’s first settlement started on August 30, 1929 in the Bay of Tikhaya. The bay was named so by Georgy Sedov, the Russian polar explorer whose expedition wintered near it in 1913-1914. Along with footage of the present-day Arctic made in the Russian Arctic National Park, the film uses the unique archival footage from 1929-1936 capturing the icebreaker Georgy Sedov’s calls at Tikhaya Bay in 1929 and 1930, the construction of a polar station on Hooker Island, scientific work carried out by the first winter workers, the early research surveys and photos of polar explorers sourced from the Russian State Archive for Economic Documents.
2. “KenoVISION 2020 Award Winners”, a selection of the best short films made by beginner crews during their one-week stay at Kenozero National Park in the summer of 2020.
The Glorious Coasts. The First Saga/ 2020/ Russia/ Svetlana Patrakeeva/ 14 min.
This third film on the program is from a martial arts club called Northern Wolf and follows the 9th-11th century story of a northern girl who is to marry a Viking.
Auditions/ 2020/ Russia/ Arseny Vasiliev/ 7min.
Auditions is a short comedy film from a Karelia-based crew that could have well been based on a true story. Its plot is more than simple: a young actress is doing an audition hosted by someone who only pretends to be a casting director. The truth comes out when she hears a stranger say, “You are wanted at the dinner table…”.
The Beautiful Has To Have Its Limits, Too / 2020/ Russia/ Maria Belaya/ 11 min.
This film by Maria Belaya is based on the eponymous story written by Anton Chekhov and received the highest accolade from KenoVISION 2020. Filmed by actors of Arkhangelsk’s Tabure Theater with the support from Anton Dolganov and Vladislav Sidorov of Samara-based Modjo Films.
3. Not A Woman’s Job / documentary/ 2020/ Russia/Ekaterina Filippova, Alexandra Kuznetsova/ 40 min.
A series of astounding monologues from women practicing what’s traditionally been men’s jobs, the film attempts to break the stereotypes and reduce discrimination against women through the inspiring real-life cases.
4. Aviators of Glory. Real-Life Feats /short/ 2020/ Russia / Denis Kiris/15 min.
Dedicated to the exploits performed by civil aviators joining the Red Air Force to combat the enemy, the film follows five aviators who were assigned, during WW2, to Special Northern Airborne Tactical Formation and the Moscow Special Air Group – the air force units tasked with some of the most difficult combat tasks in the North-Western sector and responsible for the operation of the “air bridge” connecting Moscow to Leningrad. That air bridge was what thousands of people depended on in the besieged Leningrad.
Admission is free
