Established in 2009, London’s vibrant Maslenitsa Festival returns in February for a week of celebration and activities throughout the capital.
Maslenitsa – often loosely translated as ‘pancake week’ – is a well-loved tradition in Russia to mark the beginning of spring, and now it’s a popular annual fixture here too – perfect for chasing away the winter blues and to experience the best of Russian culture and heritage.
This year’s festival is a veritable feast for all the senses (and of course there’ll be plenty of opportunities to taste delicious blini pancakes).
This film screening is a part of the Maslenitsa Festival programme (for the full programme please visit www.maslenitsa.co.uk)
Rita’s Last Fairy Tale
2012 ‧ Drama, Fantasy, Mystery
This film is a gripping portrayal of three women, whose stories illustrate three universal themes – love, hate and the search for love. Tanya Neubivko has never been in love but is optimistically searching for it. Her ill-fated (and even dangerous) encounters with strangers on dates almost get her killed. Rita is joyfully engaged, planning her wedding and going for a routine medical checkup. Nadya is a deeply unhappy doctor who hates her husband and finds relief in alcohol. The story takes place in a surreal hospital with a leaking roof and hollow walls, populated by chain-smoking doctors …
Film Director: Renata Litvinova
Screening date: 22 February 2017
Screening time: 7pm
Renata Litvinova studied at VGIL film school in Moscow and began her career as a screenwriter. Her acting talents were discovered by director Kira Muratova, who encouraged her to create a role for herself in the film Passions (1994). Litvinova continued to write film screenplays (including collaborations with Muratova) after this acting debut. Principled and Compassionate View (1995) won the Jury prize at Russia’s ‘Window to Europe’ festival; Three Stories was adapted for film; and To Own and Belong became the critically-acclaimed Country of the Deaf (1998). Litvinova’s acting career took off in 2000, when she played the role of Albino Crow in the show The Border – followed by nominated roles in Sky. Plane. Girl. (2002), The Tuner (2004) and I’m Not Hurt (2006). She also provided voiceovers for the films $8.50 (1999), Frog's Paradise (2007) and Peregrine (2008). As a director, Litvinova’s work includes the documentary There is No Death For Me (2000), the feature film The Goddess (2004, which she also wrote and starred in), the short film Rado (2006), and three collaborations with rock musician Zemfira Ramazanova: Green Theatre in Zemfira (2008), Moscow, Crocus Arrow (2010) and the feature film Rita's Last FairyTale (2012).
