Pitt and Pittsburgh Filmmakers to Host 11th Annual Russian Film Symposium May 4-9

PITTSBURGH-The University of Pittsburgh and Pittsburgh Filmmakers will present the 11th annual Russian Film Symposium, titled "The New Positive Hero: Masculinity and Genre in Recent Russian Cinema," May 4-9 on Pitt's Oakland campus as well as at the Pittsburgh Filmmakers' Melwood Screening Room (MSR), 477 Melwood Ave., Oakland.

According to press coordinator Margaret Barton-Fumo, this year's symposium is an examination of the interrelationship of two recent, seemingly unrelated developments in the Russian film industry: the emergence of genre cinema and the reconfiguration of masculinity on-screen. The theme of this year's symposium is twofold, as it attends to the rigid conventions of Russian film genres and the nuanced representations of masculinity on-screen. Both are present-day developments, apparently at odds with the trends of the previous decade.

Renowned film scholars from Europe and the United States will present brief introductions for each film, and a discussion session will be held at the conclusion of each screening. Speakers will include Petre Petrov, a professor in Princeton University's Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures; Jeremy Hicks, a senior lecturer in the Queen Mary, University of London, School of Languages, Linguistics and Film; and Alexander Prokhorov, a professor in the College of William and Mary's Department of Modern Languages.

Pitt-campus screenings will be presented in Room 106 of David Lawrence Hall (DLH), 3942 Forbes Ave., Oakland. Pitt screenings are free and open to the public. Admission to Pittsburgh Filmmaker's MSR is $7. All films contain English subtitles.

The film symposium's screening schedule follows:

May 4 "Vanished Empire" (2008), 105 minutes, directed by Karen Shakhnazarov, 10 a.m., DLH; "Paper Soldier" (2008), 118 minutes, directed by Aleksei German Jr., 2 p.m., DLH;

May 5 "Live and Remember" (2008), 95 minutes, directed by Aleksandr Proshkin, 10 a.m., DLH; "Once Upon a Time in the Provinces" (2008), 112 minutes, directed by Katia Shagalova, 2 p.m., DLH;

May 6 "Four Ages of Love" (2008), 100 minutes, directed by Sergei Mokritskii, 10 a.m., DLH; "Wild Field" (2008), 100 minutes, directed by Mikhail Kalatozishvili, 7:30 p.m., MSR;

May 7 "Mukha" (2008), 107 minutes, directed by Vladimir Kott, 2 p.m., DLH; "12" (2007), 153 minutes, directed by Nikita Mikhalkov, 7: 30 p.m., MSR;

May 8 "Captive" (2008) 80 minutes, directed by Aleksei Uchitel, 10 a.m., DLH; Russia-88 (2009), 104 minutes, directed by "Pavel Bardin," 2 p.m., DLH; "Shultes" (2008) 100 minutes, directed by Bakur Bakuradze, 7:30 p.m., MSR; and

May 9 "Morphia" (2008) 107 minutes, directed by Aleksei Balabanov, 7:30 p.m., MSR.

For more information, a full schedule of events, and a synopsis of screenings, visit www.rusfilms.pitt.edu or www.filmstudies.pitt.edu/events/fy09/russianfilm09.pdf.

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