Russian Film Symposium 2004

Recommended Reading: Web Resources on Contemporary Russian Cinema

• festivals
• studios
• zines
• reference
• other

Kinotavr Film Festival The site of the Kinotavr Film Festival is the source for information regarding this major annual event in Sochi

Moscow International Film Festival (available in Russian and English) contains highlights from the 2003 festival: prize winners, program of films, guest spotlights, juror biographies, and organizer information. Prize winners are listed for each previous festival, beginning with the first in 1935.

Moscow Museum of Cinema [Музей кино] continues its work at a new venue as well as on its website. The site provides the ability to search the museum's extensive archival collections and past exhibitions and to keep abreast of current screenings and events.

VGIK 2000: Script Exchange [Всероссийский государственный институт кинематографии имени С.А.Герасимова] provides a large number of film, television and student scripts as well as articles and information about screenwriters. News, announcements, and upcoming events are also posted.

Lenfilm is a major film studio located in St. Petersburg (formerly Leningrad). Apart from a brief history of the studio, the site features reviews of new releases in the press and biographical information on actors and directors associated with the studio. The website is in Russian, with the English version under construction.

Mosfilm is one of the major Soviet and Russian film producing companies. The site provides information and announcements of current Mosfilm productions, projects, and exhibitions from 1999 and on in Russian and English.

STW Studio [Кинокомпания СТВ] provides information regarding the activities of the studio. It is also a repository for publicity, journalistic criticism, and public discussion of all of their feature films from 1993 to the present. The site also features actor and crew biographies and music clips from many films. The main website is in Russian with links to a yet rudimentary English version. No search feature is provided, but one can subscribe to receive periodic news updates.

Pygmalion Studio: Established in 2001, Pygmalion Studio has become one of the most successful producers of films, videos, and television shows in Russia. Among its films are Aleksandr Khvan's Carmen (2003) and Petr Buslov's Boomer (2003).

Moscow Animation Studio contains information about the studio, personnel, films, and awards. It also carries news stories about events in the animation industry.

Cyril and Methodius [Kiril i Mefodii] was the first major database for Russo-Soviet cinema. It is currently part of an interlocking series of databases, a "mega-encyclopedia." Searches can be done by titles of films, genres, awards, names of personnel in the film industry, or by profession.

Our Cinema [Nashe kino] is a database that contains information on Russo-Soviet films and workers within the film industry. Searches can be conducted for specific titles, personnel, description, or year.

Animator.ru contains a database, which can be searched by film titles, types of animation (drawn, puppet, CGI), studios, and personnel (directors, scriptwriters, artists, animators, sound technicians, cameramen, composers). It also contains news about events in the animation industry, festivals, etc., as well as a photo archive, interviews, and articles on animation.

Actors of Soviet Cinema [Актеры советского кино] Despite its title, this database is regularly updated. It is the largest database for information on actors in the Russo-Soviet film industry. Searches can be done by name or by browsing through the alphabetical listing.

Russian Television Series [Руские телесериалы] has information on domestically produced, current and past television series broadcast in the Russian Federation. It provides news on series that are in production and on actors (and has a photo gallery).

KinoKultura contains information about new Russian cinema including a list of new films (2000-present) with brief descriptions of each, critical reviews and articles for select films, a list of films currently in production, and an option to submit electronic film reviews to the site.

ArtMargins: Contemporary Central and Eastern European Visual Culture (Click on "cineview") This scholarly on-line journal is dedicated to contemporary Central and Eastern European visual culture. In addition to original articles published on art and architecture, it also includes interviews, book and film reviews, and "roundtable" discussions. A wide variety of scholars from all over the globe have contributed to Art Margins, notably including Slavoj Žižek and Boris Groys.

Kinoeye: New Perspectives on European Film, Kinoeye Archive for Russia: This website, which began as Andrew James Horton's column in The Electronic New Presence and later in The Central Europe Review, presents film reviews and analytical articles on European film. The editors hope that the semi-global scope of the website (all European cinema) will reveal films as the products of local, national, and regional cultures. Kinoeye.org includes archives of articles and links arranged by country; the Russian archive provides links to other on-line film journals, resources, and articles about Russian film festivals, directors, and films.

www.kinoart.ru (and its pre-2002 version old.kinoart.ru) consists of two large sections. One is the academic journal Iskusstvo kino, and the other is an archive of interviews and essays devoted to film directors, actors, and other film industry personae; reviews of Russian and foreign films; academic publications on the theory of film; reviews of Russian TV programs and shows; announcements. It is possible to subscribe to the journal on-line.

Kinovedcheskie zapiski is the leading scholarly journal for cinema studies in the Russian Federation, publishing theoretical and historical studies of Russian and world cinema. Interdisciplinary studies are particularly welcomed. Features of the journal's website include tables of contents for current and back issues, brief biographical information on the contributors, a discussion forum, and internet links.

SEANS has resumed publication after a long interruption. Its website provides a description of recent thematic issues as well as information about its 6-volume encyclopedia of recent Russian film.

Film.ru: This cinema portal opens onto a wide range of information on domestic and international film events. Alongside standard "orientation" content intended primarily for Moscow movie-goers (reviews, locations, times, etc.), it offers news from the world of film worldwide, analytical articles, interviews, celebrity profiles, and more.

Kultura-Portal serves as a hub for information about national and regional cultural news (theater, film, literature, music, art, etc.) including film news and reviews based on a rating system, information on film festivals, an index of directors and up and coming actors and links to Russian film schools (click on "КиноКартина").

Kinoforum: The journal Kinoforum is published in Moscow by "Kinotsentr" and the Confederation of the Unions of Cinematographers. The site shows the covers and tables of contents of the journal issues.

Kinoizm: Created in 1998, this on-line film magazine is published by Sergei Korsakov and edited by Aleksandr Kondukov and Aleksei Sergeev. Boasting 5000 subscribers, KinoIzm targets a diverse audience: from the casual movie-goer, to those with more specialized interests. To the former, the journal offers a calendar of film events in Russia's two cultural capitals, film reviews ("Kinodannye"), a festival chronicle ("Psikhozy i golovokruzheniia"), Holywood news from its correspondent in Los Angeles ("Holywood 101"), and interviews with Russian and foreign film celebrities. To the latter, it caters with analytical articles and columns such as "Cinema X" (devoted to special effects) and "Cinema Verite" (devoted to documentary film).

The Guild of Film Scholars and Critics has launched its own website with information about its membership, constitution, and annual film (White Elephant) awards. There is also a discussion forum.