Russian-themed film festival and curator talk at local gallery this weekend

November 12, 13, 14
On the Road of Bones Film Festival

A film marathon for cineastes! Films by Kurosawa, Paradjanov, Mikhalkov. Films are projected. Popcorn provided. Suggested donation $5.

Friday, November 12, 8:00 pm

There Lived Kozyavin (7 min.), Andrei Khrjanovsky, 1966
A daring critique of Soviet bureaucracy, this animated short film was shown throughout the USSR but was never seen abroad until after perestroika.

The Legend of Suram Fortress (83 min.), Sergei Paradjanov, 1984
A visually dazzling surrealist masterpiece inspired by an old Russian folk tale. In ancient times, a young man must be entombed alive inside a fortress to fulfill a prophecy and save his people. In Georgian, with English subtitles.
"Deliriously abstract"—Chicago Tribune

Saturday, November 13, 8:00 pm

My Green Crocodile (1 min.), Vadim Kurchevsky, 1966
A metaphorical tale of love and courage, told in stop-motion animation.

Dersu Uzala (140 min.), Akira Kurosawa, 1974
Kurosawa's gorgeous epic adaptation of V.K. Arseniev's classic memoir, a sweeping Soviet-Japanese co-production, won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film. A Mongolian hunter, derided as foolish and primitive by a crew of Russian surveyors, guides them through Siberian wilderness where his bravery and wisdom teach them the meaning of friendship and respect.

Sunday, November 14, 2:00 pm

Man in the Frame (10 min.), Fyodor Khitruk, 1966
This animated collage dramatizing the crushing of the individual in mass society somehow eluded the hand of the Soviet censors without resorting to coded symbolism or allegorical fable.

Burnt by the Sun (135 min.), Nikita Mikhalkov, 1994
The happy family of a hero of the revolution suddenly finds itself targeted by Stalin's secret police. This hauntingly lyrical story about love and loss was one of the most acclaimed films produced in the early years of the post-Soviet cinema.

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Saturday, November 13, 7 pm
"Road of Bones" Curator Talk

Anthropologist and curator Tom Miller will discuss the history and cultures of the Russian north, with rare photos and recordings from his field research on Siberian shamans. Not to be missed. Suggested donation $5.