From 25 May 2021 until 1 June 2021, the Armenian Institute in partnership with Klassiki, the world’s first ever streaming platform dedicated to classic cinema from Russia, the Caucasus and Central Asia, will host UNDER SOVIET SKIES, an online film festival spotlighting recently restored and newly subtitled classics of Armenian cinema and celebrating the theme of neighbourliness with films from Russia, Georgia and Ukraine. The season will launch with a premiere of the 1966 classic, Hello, It’s Me! and is complimented with a week-long programme of live panel discussions, interviews and viewing parties.
To be registered for a free festival pass for a week, please email info@klassiki.online with Registration for Under Soviet Skies in the subject field, alongside your email address and proposed user name.
25 May 2021, 7pm GMT:
Hello! It’s Me Premiere, preceded by an introduction with Vigen Galsytan, head of the National Cinema Centre of Armenia’s Heritage Department, Tatevik Ayvazyan, director of the Armenian Institute of London and Justine Waddell, founder of Klassiki.
27 May 2021, 7pm GMT:
Live panel discussion exploring the theme of Soviet identity and film, how identities have been shaped and reshaped in the Soviet and post-Soviet space. With Professor Ian Christie, Nourtiza Matossian, Dr Maria Korolkova and Gareth Evans.
Films on Display: Screening for free for the entirety of the week-long programme
Burnt By the Sun, Nikita Mikhalkov, 1994
This Academy Award winning film is the story of a family and a people, suffused with Nikita Mikhalkov’s customary sense of irony and political symbolism.
Set in 1936, as Stalin’s purges gather momentum, Mikhalkov plays a retired officer who has retreated to the country with his wife Maroussia (Ingeborga Dapkunaite) and 6-year-old daughter Nada (Nadezhda Mikhalkova —the director’s own daughter). When a former lover of Maroussia arrives, the family’s idyll is pushed to shattering.
Blue Mountains, Eldar Shengelia, 1983
This deft satire of Soviet bureaucracy follows Soso, an aspiring novelist looking to publish his latest manuscript. It soon becomes apparent that the publishing house is staffed by a host of oblivious employees interested in everything but his novel.
As his frustration mounts, the narrative sails seamlessly towards its devastating final image, a darkly comic indictment of a system crumbling before a people’s very eyes.
Hello, It’s Me!, Frunze Dovlatyan, 1966
Based on the real-life story of Soviet physicist, Artem Alikhanian, this film presents a beautiful and tragic reflection on war as the main character deals with his own ghosts and tries to find a way to move on.
The film moves back and forth between the 40s and 60s giving a unique perspective on World War 2 (or the Great Patriotic War as it was called in the Soviet Union) and the havoc it wreaked on the lives of young scientists. As life stops, the laws of physics continue.
A Piece of Sky, Henrik Malyan, 1980
Torik is a shy orphaned boy adopted by his aunt and uncle. The film follows Torik as he struggles through adolescence, learns his uncle’s craft and finds a suitable girl to marry. Ultimately, Torik falls in love with a woman the community does not approve of and he has to stand up to the bigotry to fight for his happiness.
One of Henrik Malyan’s classic comedies with a deep affection for Armenian history, based on a much-loved short story by Vahan Totovents.
Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors, Sergei Parajanov, 1965
Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors is a film that shows rather than tells. Unforgettable for its subject matter and aesthetics, the dialogue is minimal and the visual style bursts with what would become Parajanov’s signature use of colour, dramatic camera work and rich symbolism.
Featuring a detailed portrayal of Ukrainian Hutsul culture, Hutsul traditions, music, costumes, and dialect, it launched Parajanov’s filmmaking career and is now regarded as one of the great works of the 20th century.
