For the lovers of Russian cinema, it is time to rejoice. A film festival will take place in the city soon that is going to focus on Russian cinema. The Culture Centre of Russia has joined hands with Enlighten Film Society to organise the Russian Film Festival to commemorate the 65th year of Russia’s victory in the Great Patriotic War (World War II).
Interestingly, though it is a Russian film festival, it will not feature any work by the most famous Russian directors, Andrei Tarkovsky and Sergei Eisenstei. Since it’s about the World War II, the three films that will be shown at the festival are the war classics: The Cranes Are Flying, Come and See and Ballad of A Soldier.
Pranav Ashar, founder of the society says, “Unlike Hollywood, European or Asian cinema, Russian cinema has not been explored by cinegoers despite having some of the most influential masterpieces in their kitty. These three films were highly regarded during their release worldwide. This is a great chance for everybody to come and embrace the masterworks from a country which has produced some of the most beautiful films ever.”
While all the films are woven around the war, each film tells a different but touching story. The Cranes Are Flying depicts the brutality of war and how the Soviet psyche suffered because of World War II. Ballad of a Soldier tells the story of a Red Army soldier Alyosha who falls in love Shura on his way home during leave. Come and See (cited as a film that “makes Apocalypse Now look lightweight”) is a haunting film about a boy who loses his innocence and then his mind while surviving the atrocities of war, especially the merciless German forces.
While The Cranes Are Flying (1957) won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival becoming the second of two Soviet films to win the award, Ballad of a Soldier (1959) won prizes at Cannes, BAFTA, Bucharest, besides being nominated at the Academy Awards for Best Original Screenplay. Come and See is comparatively a new film released in 1985 which won prestigious awards at the Moscow International Film Festival and was hailed as an instant classic by critics globally.