For this event eight pre-revolutionary and early Soviet animated silent shorts have been chosen. Contemporary Russian electronic musicians have composed soundtracks to accompany each one, allowing a new perception of each animated story. The screening will be open with a lecture explaining the origins of Soviet cinema and its influence upon contemporary film today. 

This project is an attempt to re-create and re-imagine the experience of early 20th century Russian and Soviet cinema halls. For this event eight animated silent shorts have been chosen, created in pre-revolutionary and early Soviet Russia (1912 — 1929). Soviet animated and feature movies of the 1920s and 1930s have enriched the language of contemporary cinema. Many viewers outside Russia are aware of Sergei Eisenstein’s and Dziga Vertov’s work: we invite the audience to explore lesser-known animated movies from that period.
 

An exciting and innovative aspect of this project are the soundtracks that accompany each animation. These soundtracks were composed especially for this project by Russian electronic musicians, to provide a new context for the animated story. These musicians, DJs and producers take the place of the tapeurs of the silent movie era — film accompanists who played music alongside the screenings to mask the noise of the projector and talkative audience. Later music became an essential part of the film viewing experience.

A less obvious but still essential part of going to the cinema has always been movie posters. Essentially made for promotion purposes, they became an independent art-form presented at international exhibitions and auctions.

For our project a set of ex-Soviet artists/designers/illustrators have created posters for each film.

Each screening will be opened with a lecture that explains the origins of the Soviet cinema school and its influence upon the contemporary film industry.

Musicians: Pixelord, Hmot, Lapti, Foresteppe, John’s Kingdom, Nocow, Andrei Oid, Piper Spray, Vladimir Strabykin & Lasha Jorjoliani.

Artists: Andrey Kasay, Marat Morik, Pavel Kiselev, Zoom, Nootk, Adel Saleh, Alexey Kio, Dima Pantyushin, Janna Kapustnikova, Pavel Peppershtein.

With Russian intertitles and English subtitles.

Please note that Pushkin House will hold the tickets of latecomers for twenty minutes following the event start time, after which unclaimed tickets will be released. 

If you are running late, please contact us in order to avoid this.