Russian Embassy Hosts Free Film Screenings

The Kremlin

Enjoy great Russian films, food, and discussions at the Russian Embassy as The American University Initiative for Russian Culture presents classic, award-winning films.

Location: The Russian Embassy

Address:  2650 Wisconsin Avenue, NW (above Glover Park)

Attire: Business

Parking: Valet available.

Date: October 27

Reception: 7:00 PM

Screening: 8:00 PM

Film: My Name Is Ivan (Иваново детство, 1962)

Directed by the legendary Andrei Tarkovsky, My Name Is Ivan (Иваново детство, 1962) tells the story of an orphan boy named Ivan and his experiences during World War II. Ivan’s Childhood, as the film is also sometimes translated, was one of several Soviet films of the late 1950s, such as The Cranes Are Flying and Ballad of a Soldier that looked at the human cost of war and did not glorify the war experience as did films produced before the Krushchev Thaw.  

Ivan’s Childhood was Tarkovsky’s first feature film that won him critical acclaim and made him internationally known. It won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 1962 and the Golden Gate Award at the San Francisco International film Festival in 1962. Famous filmmakers such as Ingmar Bergman, Sergey Parajanov and Krzysztof Kieślowski praised the film and cited it as influencing their work.

 Professor Vida Johnson, author of The Films of Andrei Tarkovsky: A Visual Fugue, director of the Russian Program at Tufts University, and one of the world’s leading authorities on Tarkovsky, will lead a discussion afterwards.

Date: December 1

Reception:  7:00 PM

Screening: 8:00 PM  

Film: Come and See (Иди и смотри, 1985)

Directed by Elem Klimov, Come and See (Иди и смотри, 1985) is a psychological horror drama about the Nazi occupation of the Byelorussian SSR. Aleksei Kravchenko and Olga Mironova star as the protagonists, Florya and Glasha. The script had to wait eight years for approval because of its graphic nature, but the film was finally produced to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Soviet victory in World War II. It was a large box-office hit, with 28 million tickets sold in the Soviet Union alone. Come and See won the FIPRESCI prize and the Golden Prize at the Moscow International Film Festival in 1985.

Email: IRC@AMERICAN.EDU to RSVP by noon on the Tuesday before the screening. **THIS IS REQUIRED TO ENTER EMBASSY**

Guests are welcome!

For more information, see: http://www.american.edu/cas/history/initiative-russian-culture/