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Hollywood Veteran Director Vadim Perelman and Russian Newcomer Boris Khlebnikov Discuss Filmmaking of Today

New York – Global Advertising Strategies in partnership with Russian Television Studio Clotho present an international master class featuring film directors Vadim Perelman and Boris Khlebnikov as part of the 10th Russian Film Week in New York. The event will be held today at the New York Institute of Technology Auditorium on Broadway at 8:30 p.m. The event will be followed by the screening of a short film directed by Boris Khlebnikov from short film almanac “Crush” and a movie clip from Vadim Perelman’s film “The Life before Her Eyes”.
Born in Kiev, Ukraine, Vadim Perelman is one of Hollywood’s renowned directors, known for such films as the Oscar-nominated “House of Sand and Fog,” starring Ben Kingsley and Jennifer Connelly as well as “The Life before Her Eyes” starring Uma Thurman and Evan Rachel Wood. His current project, “The Song of Names,” is due out next year and stars Anthony Hopkins and Dustin Hoffman.

“Cinema, like any other art form, unifies us as people, and as nations. The storyline must transcend all cultures,” said Vadim Perelman. “Through engaging its audience emotionally, cinema will evoke not only an understanding and empathy for those who are not us, but ultimately an understanding and empathy for ourselves.”

Moscow-born, Boris Khlebnikov, leads the new generation of Russian filmmakers. His films have garnered recognition from audiences at film festivals as well as acclaim from critics. His film “Roads to Koktebel,” co-directed with Alexei Popogrebsky, was awarded the Special Jury Prize at Moscow International Film Festival and was named a FIPRESCI Discovery of the Year at the Cannes Film Festival. Khlebnikov contributed his directorial talents to one of the Film Week’s features as well, a love narrative “Crush.”

“My way into filmmaking was quite peculiar,” said Boris Khlebnikov. “Basically, I did not get any proper education in cinematography, and still consider myself a non-professional. For better or worse, I started my career as a film critic. What can I share with an American audience? I do not know for sure, but by no means can I be a useful person to give advice to anyone. Moreover, my advice can only be useless, or even harmful. But, sometimes a harmful advice can be quite helpful. You begin to think it over, and gradually find your own way.”
Moderated by film critic and the Program Director of the Film Week Oleg Sulkin, the meet-and-greet master class will appeal to film connoisseurs, film students as well as lovers of film in general.
‘They come from different social backgrounds and work in a drastically different cinematic milieu”, says Oleg Sulkin. “A formal contrast of these two directors, one representing an arthouse niche in the mainstream US movie industry, and the other — the brave new world of modern Russian cinema, set up an excellent platform for discussion”.

They say old habits die hard. New Yorkers interested in Russian culture have grown accustomed to seeing the latest Russian films on the big screens throughout the city every fall. They have gotten used to being able to meet the cast and the filmmakers and to discuss the filmmaking process with them after the show. Slightly late this year, the Russian Film Week is here again –in December.
Welcome to the 10th Russian Film Week in New York! We will be here from December 3rd to 9th in theatres throughout Manhattan and Brooklyn. The current program includes 12 feature films and an artistic almanac. I am hopeful that all films make it here safely, with no obstacles in their way, such as issues at customs or pure last-minute misfortune. With Lady Luck on our side, our films will reach the audience in their entire assortment of genres, styles, colors and moods.
Their assortment is not just a figure of speech. In recent years, Russian cinematography has earned a reputation for being bleak and depressive. Indeed, the reality of negativity and darkness would be hard to avoid completely. Those dark, low life moments somehow inspire the utmost creativity in the filmmaking. At the same time, the trend toward light-hearted films filled with kindness and laughter is also catching on. Perhaps, the young filmmakers are going back to their roots, often referencing a beloved veteran of the Russian romantic comedy, Eldar Ryazanov. The wide range of this week’s films has two common characteristics: the originality of its concept and the utmost creativity of execution.
What else can be said about this week’s selection? This year is filled with young talent. Most of the film directors are between 30 and 40, making them teenagers by industry standards. A lot of them gained their life experience working in areas other than film. They may be newcomers to filmmaking, but they have put in the hard work needed for the experience.
Time flies as I still remember Nikita Mikhalkov’s debut At Home among Strangers at the House of Cinema in Moscow – and the acclaim received by the young director then. Today Nikita Mikhalkov is the spokesperson for the Russian filmmaking, his name being recognized internationally. At the same time, his name is often associated with controversy because of the strong opinions expressed in life and in his films. His recent work has sparked political and cultural debates, so we wanted to feature the controversial “Burnt by the Sun 2: Imminence,” to let the audience decide for themselves. Common sense advises to judge the artist by his own rule, so let’s apply this tip in our evaluation of Mikhalkov’s latest.
Other films featured this week are bound to evoke emotions just as strong. Vochok (Wolfy) – frontrunner of “Kinotavr 2009,” – was a critical success for the newcomer Vassily Sigarev, a renowned theater playwright. A heart-wrenching story of a loveless mother and a daughter yearning for her affection – the film portrays a tragic mother-daughter love story, yet manages to leave a glimpse of hope within us.
Another debutant, Sergei Loznitsa, and his motion picture My Joy –the film that is ironically filled with malice and sorrow and its main character’s downward spiral into darkness. A documentary maker prior to this film, Loznitsa masterfully depicts the amorality of the human fall, but at the end, touches upon salvation. Perhaps not for the main character of the film, but the human race in general.
The purported bad boy of the debut group, Pavel Bardin, delivers a scary diagnosis to the Russian society of today. “Russia 88” has been banned in Russia and its director either blacklisted at most Russian film festivals or denied award entry. The film, provocative and controversial in nature, depicts a group of Russian skinheads. Shot to appear as a documentary, it does feature interviews with everyday Russian people that demonstrate a deeply rooted hatred and chauvinism of the masses.
This week features several warm-hearted and happy films as well. The trend toward the mainstream standard of a happy end is evident in the Post-Soviet film development. We have brought you the best examples of those films for this year’s Film Week, linking their entertainment with Russian intellectualism, at times moralizing or aesthetic.
Alexey Popogrebsky’s psychological thriller How I Ended This Summer received several awards at film festivals in London and Berlin, proving the potential of the Russian director who can captivate his audience and keep them in suspense. Popogrebsky’s previous film, Simple Things, was noted for its lighthearted subject matter and its realistic execution that did not exaggerate the life as we know it.
Roman Karimov takes a similar approach with his film Inadequate People. Another newcomer, Karimov started out directing commercials and music videos. The characters of his film are ordinary people with simple manners who are suddenly hit by the new capitalist system. A funny and enlightening take on how an “old soul” character survives in the presence of social innovations and fashion.
Most films at this year’s week feature young acting talent, the new generation of Russian Hollywood, along with the well-known and well-loved stars that continue to attract crowds with their performances. Dmitry Meskhiev, a veteran among other directors, zeroes in on Yuriy Stoyanov’s charisma in his dramedy “Man by the Window”. The cast, complete with such names as Sergei Garmash, Vladimir Vdovichenkov and Maria Zvonareva, does an amazing job in this film about an out-of-work actor who can’t seem to catch a break. The movie is a poetic mix of warmth, humor and sadness—story of unrequited love and all of its illusions.
That same youth, hungry for passion and immediate gratification, sets the stage for a bold, adrenaline-filled comedy “Minors under 16,” directed by Andrey Kavun. The word “sex” is heard nearly constantly throughout the film, as if to prove that the conservative portrayal of life in the Soviet Union, no longer exists in the new, liberated Russia, and everyone is attuned to their primal instincts.
A similar degree of candidness fills “What Men Talk About,” in my opinion, the funniest film of this year’s selection. Director Dmitry Djachenko braves blunt conversations in a constrained space of a car or a hotel room. Four friends are going on a road trip, devoting most of their conversations to women. Hilarity ensues but the cast maintains a level class and charm, not letting things get too tacky.
Every generation at some point looks back at the old days with a sense of nostalgia. Garik Sukachov’s retro-themed film “House of Sun”, as well as Karen Shakhnazarov’s “The Vanished Empire” are set in the 70’s, when the hippie flower movement reached the Soviet Union. The young characters in Sukachov’s film vow to lead an honest life and to challenge the mainstream thinking. Their refusal to conform and desire to protest against the moss-covered foundations evokes empathy and resonates with the rebel in all of us.
The genre of persistent parodies that has somewhat faded in recent years, is revived by St. Petersburg’s director Sergei Debizhev. His pseudo-thriller “The Golden Mean” combines adventure, the Far East exotica, espionage, passion and a dialogue densely packed irony, sarcasm and humor. The result was an ambiguous, Russified clone of “The Da Vinci Code.” You can take at face value, or enjoy endless winks from the director.
There is neither irony nor nostalgia in Anton Bormatov’s criminal thriller “Alien Girl.” Rigid, realistic portrayal of the mob conflicts of the 90’s. Scenes filmed in Prague show the eerie side of the Czech capital. Elements of romance are brought to a minimum, and the realism of criminal life hits the nerves. The events of “Alien Girl” pull you into your seat like a rollercoaster, leaving you on edge, with goose bumps, completely engaged in the plot.
We are coming to the end of our program overview. The films are all noteworthy, interesting and unique in their own way. Perhaps the most “unifying,” the most representative film of the Film Week, would be Crush. Five young director directors of the new generation of the Russian cinema contributed to this pilot project on anthology of love – Boris Khlebnikov, Ivan Vyrypaev, Petr Buslov, Alexei German Jr. and Kirill Serebrennikov. Each one has his own opinion, attitude, rhythm and style. Their vision, confidence and freshness of perspective bring them all together.
Ask any organizer of a film event, ours or the largest film festivals in the world, and they will confirm that you cannot convey the immensity of cinematography in one ideal program. Russian cinema is state-funded as well as private, so producers are often reluctant to release their work due to a number of complicated factors, which reminds me that one of our round tables during this week will be dedicated to the complexities of international film distribution and commercial success.
Audiences of the Film Week will see for themselves that the much discussed collapse of the Russian cinema was all but a rumor. The film selection speaks for itself, yet it is one thing to idealize cultural unity and another to invest physically and financially, so the cultural exchange happens. With the help of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, the organizers of the 10th Russian Film Week in New York, Global Advertising Strategies and Russian TV studio “Clotho Plus,” have brought together Russian filmmaking and American audience. We hope to see your sparks of interest, understanding and joy this December at the event.

Hollywood Veteran Director Vadim Perelman and Russian Newcomer Boris Khlebnikov Discuss Filmmaking of Today.

November 26, 2010, New York – Global Advertising Strategies in partnership with Russian Television Studio Clotho present an international master class featuring film directors Vadim Perelman and Boris Khlebnikov as part of the 10th Russian Film Week in New York. The event will be held on December 8 at the New York Institute of Technology Theater at 8:30 p.m. The event will be followed by the screening of a short film directed by Boris Khlebnikov.

Born in Kiev, Ukraine, Vadim Perelman is one of Hollywood’s renowned directors, known for such films as the Oscar-nominated “House of Sand and Fog,” starring Ben Kingsley and Jennifer Connelly as well as “The Life before Her Eyes” starring Uma Thurman and Evan Rachel Wood. His current project, “The Song of Names,” is due out next year and stars Anthony Hopkins and Dustin Hoffman.

“Cinema, like any other art form, unifies us as people, and as nations. The storyline must transcend all cultures,” said Vadim Perelman. “Through engaging its audience emotionally, cinema will evoke not only an understanding and empathy for those who are not us, but ultimately an understanding and empathy for ourselves.”
Moscow-born, Boris Khlebnikov, leads the new generation of Russian filmmakers. His films have garnered recognition from audiences at film festivals as well as acclaim from critics. His film “Roads to Koktebel,” co-directed with Alexei Popogrebsky, was awarded the Special Jury Prize at Moscow International Film Festival and was named a FIPRESCI Discovery of the Year at the Cannes Film Festival. Khlebnikov contributed his directorial talents to one of the Film Week’s features as well, a love narrative “Crush.”
“My way into filmmaking was quite peculiar,” said Boris Khlebnikov. “Basically, I did not get any proper education in cinematography, and still consider myself a non-professional. For better or worse, I started my career as a film critic. What can I share with an American audience? I do not know for sure, but by no means can I be a useful person to give advice to anyone. Moreover, my advice can only be useless, or even harmful. But, sometimes a harmful advice can be quite helpful. You begin to think it over, and gradually find your own way.”

Moderated by film critic and the Program Director of the Film Week Oleg Sulkin, the meet-and-greet master class will appeal to film connoisseurs, film students as well as lovers of film in general.

‘They come from different social backgrounds and work in a drastically different cinematic milieu”, says Oleg Sulkin. “A formal contrast of these two directors, one representing an arthouse niche in the mainstream US movie industry, and the other — the brave new world of modern Russian cinema, set up an excellent platform for discussion”.

Edox, creators of technically advanced Swiss Timepieces since 1884, has partnered with the Russian Film Festival for 2010 as the events exclusive watch sponsor. This year will mark the festivals’ tenth anniversary, attracting the very finest Russian filmmakers, actors, directors, producers and fans from around the world. It is a cultural forum where people of two great nations, who at times have been at odds with each other, come together through the shared enjoyment of filmmaking at its finest.

Scheduled for this December in New York City, the Film Festival will feature films from some of the greatest Russian cinema makers such as; Nikita Mikhalkov, Dmitry Meshiev, Aleksey Popogrebsky all of whom have received the very highest recognition at the industries most prestigious award ceremonies. The event is supported and endorsed by numerous political leaders in both the United States and Russia including; Vladimir Putin and Mayor Michael Bloomberg. It is estimated that the event will draw an attendance upwards of 15,000, as well as reaching 305,000 more through worldwide television broadcasts.

Through vehicles of creative expression man infuses his material world with inner emotions actualized in the form of aesthetic art. Be it via the modalities of song, dance, painting film or design these principals are applied to the very pinnacle of greatness by those so endowed with the rare talent and ability to do so. As film captures periods of time through moving pictures, the great watchmaking artisans of Edox chronicle time through technical ingenuity, avant-garde design and precisce function. Their wondrous timepieces, each a unique work of art, inspire their owners to revel in amazement as one who falls under the hypnotic allure of a masterful film.

In conjunction with the celebration of the great artists of Russian Film, Edox will extol its own work of art at the festival through the promotion of their new “Chronorally” timepiece. Powered by the Swiss Edox Calibre 36 with12 jewels and featuring such unique functions as; staged timing, recount/replay, countdown mode and chronograph the “Chronorally” is a dream come true to all those who enjoy the sport of racing and have always wished they could track their performances. Complimenting the “Chronorallys’” advanced technical features is a black carbon dial protected by anti reflective sapphire crystal, water resistance to 10atm and an oversized aluminum pusher to ignite the action.

The Russian Film Festival will take place this December 3 – 9 at select locations of Manhattan. Film screenings will be shown at: NYIT Auditorium on Broadway, School of Visual Arts in NY as well as the Millennium Theater in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn.

For more information please contact Gevril Luxury Group at 866.425.9882.

Film Selection to Include a First-Ever Screening of the Most Controversial Russian Film of the Decade“Russia – 88“ As Well As the London Film Festival Award Winner “How I Ended This Summer”
November 10, 2010 (New York, NY) – Today Global Advertising Strategies in partnership with TV Studio Clotho (Russia) announced the official film selection for the 10th Annual Russian Film Week in New York. The festival opens on Friday, December 3rd and runs through Thursday, December 9th. Some of the screening venues include theaters at the School of Visual Arts as well as the New York Institute of Technology (formerly Clearview’s 62nd & Broadway Cinema,) and the French Institute Alliance Frances’ Florence Hall. The 10th Russian Film Week will introduce the audience to 13 feature films, representing the best of Russia’s cinematography of this year.
“The Film Week has evolved into a unique platform for the Russian filmmakers to showcase their work in the United States,” said Anna Simakova, Global’s Director of Events.”It has been rewarding to witness the filmmakers’ interest level grow alongside the anticipation of the audience. The Russian Film Week has become a one of a kind cultural event that brings together industry newcomers, seasoned filmmakers as well as film lovers in a celebration Russia’s modern cinematography.”
Some of the anticipated film screenings at the 10th Annual Film Week include “Burnt by the Sun 2”, a follow up to the 1994 Oscar-winning anti-Stalinist drama by a veteran director, actor and producer Nikita Mikhalkov. “Crush,” a film made up of five short love narratives directed by the leaders of Russia’s ‘new wave’ of filmmakers Boris Khlebnikov, Ivan Vyrypaev, Petr Buslov, Alexey German Jr, and Kirill Serebrennikov. Critically acclaimed “Wolfy”(“Volchok”) by Vasily Sigarev, the Grand Prix winner at the Open Russian Film Festival in Sochi. The complete list of films can be found at www.RussianFilmWeekNYC.com.
“This year’s film selection is unprecedentedly diverse in style, genre as well as in their political agenda and conceptual directorial approach”, said Oleg Sulkin, a film critic and the Program Director of the Russian Film Week. “We are showcasing such strong work as an award-winning Alexey Popogrebsky’s “How I Ended This Summer” as well as “My Joy,” an outlandish insight into the Russian soul by a prominent documentary filmmaker Sergei Loznitsa, or Pavel Bardin’s shockingly strong mockumentary “Russia 88, “ a movie that has been shooed in Russia for its controversial subject matter.”
A group of Russian filmmakers is coming to New York to present the films and participate in Q&A’s and discussions with the viewers.
The 10th Annual Russian Film Week is officially supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, Russia’s leading political and cultural figures, and the City Administration of New York. The selection of the films has been made possible due to the courtesy and goodwill of Fox International Productions, Film Movement, Latida Films, Kino International and other international and Russian distributors and production companies.

New York, NY (November 24, 2009) – Over ten thousand New Yorkers attended the Ninth Annual Russian Film Week in New York, organized by Global Advertising Strategies (USA) and studio Clotho-Plus (Russia). This important cultural event received support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, diplomatic missions of Russia in New York and Washington, DC, the New York Mayor and Governor, prominent US senators.

“This eagerly-anticipated week demonstrates the outstanding contributions of Russian actors, directors, musicians, and producers to the industry, showing the many ways Russian culture continues to enrich the artistic community in our City and around the world,” said Mayor of New York Michael Bloomberg in welcoming the participants of Film Week.

From November 13th through 22nd, the best works of contemporary Russian cinema were shown in some of the most prestigious venues around New York City. During these ten days, audiences were presented with twelve live-action films and one documentary. Among them, three American premieres: Anna Karenina, directed by Sergey Solovyev, which opened Film Week; Tsar, by Pavel Lungin; and Bury Me behind the Baseboard, by Sergey Snezhkin, garnering the most interest from the New York audiences. Tickets for all shows were sold out long before the screenings.

Completely selling out shows was not the only distinctive feature of Film Week this year. According to members of the Russian delegation, the organizers were able to fully transform the idea of Film Week.

“We decided not to follow the format of Film Week of previous years,” said Givi Topchishvili, President and CEO of Global Advertising Strategies. “In my opinion, beneath everything that was done before, even though the delegation was strong and the films brought were okay, the main goal of Film Week was lost – to create the opportunities for a professional dialogue between Russian and American cinematographers. In undertaking this project, we set an objective to draw the ‘right’ audience to Film Week in order to provide Russian film directors with an opportunity to interact with their American colleagues, as well as distributors and critics. This is our first experience organizing Film Week. Some things were a success, while others could have been done differently. Still, as already evident, we chose the right path.”

A series of topical discussions and “roundtables,” which aroused huge interest from the New York professorial and cinema elite, was held throughout Film Week. On November 16th, a roundtable discussion entitled Advancement of Russian Cinema in the United States: Prospects for Collaboration and Creative Exchange, was held at the School of Visual Arts Theater after the screening of the film Tsar. The discussion was led by Vladimir Padunov, Professor at the University of Pittsburgh, a renowned specialist in Russian culture and the history of Soviet and Russian cinema, and by Oleg Sulkin, Program Director of Film Week. Participants in the roundtable included directors Pavel Lungin and Sergey Solovyev; American film directors Slava Tsukerman, Julia Loktev and Dmitry Trakovsky; film distributor Wendy Lidell; President of Kino International Donald Krim; actor Peter Von Berg; Professor Edward Miller of the College of Staten Island; and film critic David D’Arcy.

The roundtable discussion that took place on November 18th at Columbia University attracted a more academic audience. Throughout the day, students and professors were shown pictures by young Russian film directors – Buben, Baraban by Alexei Mizgirev, Tale in the Darkness by Nikolai Khomeriki and Everybody Dies but Me by Valeriya Gai Germanika. The roundtable discussion, entitled “New Barbarians” in Russian cinema – a new generation of Russian film directors, was held after the screenings. The discussion was led by Catharine Nepomnyachshy, Director of Slavic Studies, Columbia University. From the American side spoke such experts in Russian culture and cinematography as Nancy Condee, Professor, University of Pittsburgh; Anthony Anemone, Professor of Russian Language, Chair of Foreign Languages and Literary Studies, Columbia University; and Katerina Clark, Professor, Yale University. Nikolai Khomeriki defended the title of “new barbarians.”

“In assessing the Ninth, – but for us the first, – Russian Film Week, it’s necessary to say that we did not anticipate such an enormous interest from viewers and the craze surrounding the films and discussions,” said Anna Treyer-Simakova, Executive Director of Film Week. “Evidently, the combination of a good selection of films, an exciting list of participants, eager to share their professional experience, plus strong advertising support determine the correct formula for a successful Film Week, revealing the audience’s potential. Most importantly, we were able to attract the attention of the professional American audience, therefore, we established a solid foundation for the continuation of dialogue.”