2020 Art Film Festival

Presenting gripping stories of art research in a historical context, allowing us to redefine and reevaluate historical and artistic events that link films to the educational goals of the festival.

Event Venue:

Virtual

Event Date:

Starting November 25, 2020 - ongoing

2020-2021 Art Film Festival
 
Join us online starting November 25, 2020

Films available on request
 
The online Art Film Festival features films that combine history and art especially loved by members of our community.
Festival presents gripping stories of art research in a historical context, allowing us to redefine and reevaluate historical and artistic events that link films to the educational goals of the festival.

FESTIVAL LINEUP

After Raphael. 1520 - 2020 by Manas Sirakanyan
Russian | English subtitles | 2021
For five centuries, representatives of Mannerism and Academism, Baroque masters, Romantics and Modernists have invariably compared their work with the legacy of Raphael. What is the reason for such fame? What connects the artist's followers in different centuries? What is his name today? The exhibition is an attempt to answer these questions and look at the art of the past 500 years through the prism of Raphael's influence.
The large-scale exposition includes more than 300 exhibits - painting, graphics, sculpture and applied art from the Hermitage's own funds and twelve other collections in Russia and Western Europe. Famous masterpieces and previously unknown works, dozens of paintings and drawings, many of which leave the museum's storerooms for the first time, claiming that Raphael is the most influential artist of the modern era.

 

'Tis Potemkin Himself! by Manas Sirakanyan
Russian | English subtitles | 2020
A documentary film based on the materials of the State Hermitage exhibition is dedicated to the 280th anniversary of Prince Potemkin. Prince Grigory Potemkin of Taurida, a significant statesman of the 18th century, remained the most energetic associate of Catherine II for almost 20 years, playing a leading role in the Empress’s geopolitics.

 

The Hermitage Theatre: A Golden Age by Manas Sirakanyan
Russian  |  English subtitles | 2017
The Hermitage Theater is one of the oldest theaters in Russia, a masterpiece of architecture and the only theater building left in the city since the 18th century, when its position as a court theater made it the most important theater in the Russian Empire. It was also one of the most important musical centers in Europe. Some of the greatest composers, writers and artists of that time worked at the Hermitage Theater and left it with a great artistic legacy, now undeservedly forgotten. Now, thanks to the work of artists such as the Baroque Ensemble Soloists of Catherine the Great, who diligently save the 18th century performing arts from oblivion, you can once again immerse yourself in the powerful atmosphere and spectacular legacy of the Hermitage Theater in St. Petersburg during its Golden Age.
 
Another series of documentaries dedicated to the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the avant-garde group UNOVIS (Affirming the New Art) and its impact on modernity show.
 

UNOVIS by Evgenii Setko
Film Studio Belarusfilm | Documentary | 2020
Ekaterina Levanovich - the composer for the documentary - was nominated for the First National Film Award in the category "Best Film Music".

A documentary film from the cycle History of the Avant-garde tells a story about a group of teachers and students led by Kazimir Malevich created at the Vitebsk Art School (now Belarus) in February 1920 to study new ideas and theories in art, collective creativity and build a new teaching system that laid the foundation for avant-garde education, in many respects preceding schools of radical experimentation, such as the Bauhaus and VKhUTEMAS.

 

Mystifications of the King of Suprematism / The Seekers Series by TV Channel Culture
A fascinating story about Kazimir Malevich's successful trip to Poland and Germany in 1927 and the fate of his 70 paintings, which he left to his friend before returning to the Soviet Union, where he was arrested several times and died in 1935. In Germany, after Hitler came to power, avant-garde art was also banned. In the post-war world, these works of Malevich began to appear in various museums and collections, then Malevich's market boom followed, and a number of restitutions from major museums were made on behalf of the heirs.


Tickets: Stay tuned for our further announcements as our program develops and send your request to russculture@aol.com and you will receive links and passwords to watch movies at a convenient time for you.

This project is made possible with funds from the NYSCA Electronic Media/Film in Partnership with Wave Farm: Media Arts Assistance Fund, with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, Cojeco, and Investors Foundation.