Stalingrad

Stalingrad [Сталинград] Russia, 2013 Color, 131 minutes Russian, German, and Japanese with English subtitles Director: Fedor Bondarchuk Screenplay: Il’ia Til’kin, Sergei Snezhkin Camera: Maksim Osadchii Music: Angelo Badalamenti Cast: Maria Smolnikova, Petr Fedorov, Dmitrii Lysenkov, Aleksei Barabash, Andrei Smoliakov, Sergei Bondarchuk Jr., Ianina Studilina, Thomas Kretschmann, Heiner Lauterbach Producers: Aleksandr Rodnianskii, Dmitrii Rudovskii, Sergei Melkumov, Natal’ia Gorina, Steve Schklair Production: …

Beach Gray

Beach Gray is an Interdisciplinary PhD candidate in the Film Studies Program through the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures at the University of Pittsburgh.  He holds an MA in Russian Literature from the University of Pittsburgh (2011) and a BA in Russian Studies from Williams College (2007).  He has published in KinoKultura and Slavic and East European Journal.  His …

The Thief

The Thief [Вор] Russia, France 1997 Color, 96 minutes Russian, English subtitles Director: Pavel Chukhrai Screenplay: Pavel Chukhrai Camera: Vladimir Klimov Music: Vladimir Dashkevich Cast: Vladimir Mashkov, Ekaterina Rednikova, Misha Filipchuk Producer: Igor’ Tolstunov, Sergei Kozlov Production: NTV-Profit, Roissy Films Productions Le Pont Awards: 5 at Nika, 3 at Venice Film Festival, 3 at Open CIS and Baltic Film Festival …

Valeriia Gorelova

Valeriia Gorelova is a graduate of the Department of Scriptwriting and Film Studies in the Russian State University of Cinematography (VGIK). She is a senior research scholar in the historical-theoretical section of the Research Institute for Cinema Studies within the Russian State University of Cinematography (VGIK). She has worked as a film reviewer for the newspaper Moskovskii komsomolets and has published reviews, survey articles, and …

Khusein Erkenov

Khusein Erkenov is a scriptwriter, film director, and producer (in 1991 he founded his own production studio, Erkhus). In 1988 he graduated with honors from the Directing Department of the State Institute for Filmmaking (Sergei Gerasimov’s workshop) and directed his first film in 1990 (A Hundred Days Before the Command). Since then he has directed six feature films. He is …

The Test

The Test [Испытание] Russia, 2014 Color, 96 minutes Russian with English subtitles Director: Aleksandr Kott Screenplay: Aleksandr Kott Camera: Levan Kapanadze Cast: Elena An, Danila Rassomakhin, Karim Pakachakov, Nariman Bekbulatov-Areshev Producers: Igor’ Tolstunov, Sergei Kozlov Production: Igor’ Tostunov Production Company (PROFIT), Drug Druga Awards: the Grand Prix, the Prize for best Cinematography, and the Elephant Prize of the Guild of …

Cuckoo

Cuckoo  [Kukushka] Russia, 2002 Color, 105 minutes Russian, Finnish, and Sami with English subtitles Director: Aleksandr Rogozhkin Screenplay: Aleksandr Rogozhkin Camera: Andrei Zhegalov Music: Dmitrii Pavlov Cast: Anni-Kristina Iuuso, Ville Khaapasalo, Viktor Bychkov Producer: Sergei Sel’ianov Production: STV Awards: 4 at Nika, 4 at Golden Eagle, 3 at Golden Aries, Silver Saint George for Best Director and Best Actor at Moscow …

Svetlana Ishevskaia

Svetlana Ishevskaia is a film scholar. She graduated from the Department of Scriptwriting and Film Studies of the Russian State University of Cinematography (VGIK) in 2005. From 2000 until 2013 she worked on the editorial board of the journal Kinovedcheskie zapiski. In 2008, together with Dar’ia Kruzhkova edited and provided commentary for a collection of texts by Dziga Vertov (Dziga Vertov: …

James Steffen

James Steffen is the Film and Media Studies Librarian at Emory University. He is also historian of Soviet cinema and recently published a book entitled The Cinema of Sergei Parajanov (University of Wisconsin Press, 2013). His current research interests include the Soviet film industry and the politics of nationality in Soviet/post-Soviet cinemas.

Katie Bird

Katie Bird is a doctoral student in Film Studies at the University of Pittsburgh. She holds BA degrees in Film Production and English from Loyola Marymount University. She earned her MA in Literary and Cultural Studies from Carnegie Mellon University. Katie’s research focuses on below-the-line production history, craft, and discourse alongside the social context of historical viewing practices. Her dissertation …