16 May 2008. A Shot of Culture, if you please…

Moscow Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra stages a concert in Washington

Maestro Vladimir Spivakov (1944- ) conducts a concert at the Dom Muziki (House of Music) in Moscow

The Moscow Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra, directed by Vladimir Spivakov, successfully staged a concert in Washington. Its tour of North America now underway is devoted to the 30th anniversary of the orchestra, which will be marked next year. The programme of the concert included works by Shostakovich, Hayden, and Schoenberg. The group played Allegro by Mozart as an encore. The audience was especially thrilled by Tango by the Argentinean composer Piazzolla. Its solo part was played by guest-artist accordionist Nikita Vlasov, scholarship holder of the Spivakov Charitable Fund.

15 May 2008

http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&q=27072&cid=51&p=15.05.2008

******

Russian pavilion opens at Cannes festival

For the first time, a Russian Pavilion will open at the International Village during the 61st Cannes Film Festival, planned to be held from 14 to 25 May. It’s expected to host major events dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Russian film-making. Within the next few days, guests and participants of the festival will have an opportunity to watch some modern Russian films and attend a series of consultations with leading producing companies to discuss the process of film-making in contemporary Russia.

A scene from a film by Sergei Dvortsev

16 May 2008

http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&q=27075&cid=51&p=16.05.2008

******

Two Russian films take part in Cannes Film Festival

Two Russian pictures, a comedy by Sergei Dvortsev and a documentary film by Diana Mkrtchyan are contestants at the Cannes film festival. Diana Mkrtchyan shot her half-hour picture about ethnic Armenians who fled from Azerbaijan to Moscow whilst studying at a script-writers’ and film directors’ school and working for the Voice of Russia.

Gata by Diana Mkrtchyan (the complete film)

16 May 2008

http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&q=27109&cid=51&p=16.05.2008

******

Faina Ranevskaya Festival kicks off in Taganrog

Faina Ranevskaya (1896-1984), honoured Russian actress

______________________________

The southern Russian city of Taganrog is honouring the memory of stage and movie actress Faina Ranevskaya, listed as one of the ten outstanding actresses of the 20th century in the British Who Is Who book of 1992. A Ranevskaya festival is about to open there, and a two-metre bronze monument to Ranevskaya will be unveiled in front of the house where she was born. Moscow-based actors will be privileged to open the Taganrog festival with recollections of their meetings with Ms Ranevskaya. Provincial theatres have brought their new productions to the Ranevskaya Festival.

16 May 2008

http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&q=27108&cid=51&p=16.05.2008

******

Russian film director Aleksandr Sokurov and opera diva Galina Vishnevskaya win a UN prize

Film director Aleksandr Sokurov (1951- )

_______________________________

Russian film director Aleksandr Sokurov and the opera diva Galina Vishnevskaya (1926- ) won a United Nations prize for a movie about the Russian counter-terrorist operations in the Northern Caucasus. Ms Vishnevskaya plays the grandma of a young Russian officer on deployment to Chechnya. She beat two Western movie stars, Vanessa Redgrave, and Angelina Jolie, for the prize.

16 May 2008

Sonata for Hitler (Соната для Гитлера), 1989, Leningrad Documentary Film Studio, directed by Alexandr Sokurov

http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&q=27113&cid=51&p=16.05.2008

Voice of Russia World Service

Advertisement

16 May 2008. Out and About…

Ukrainian Parliament falls victim to political intrigues

The Ukrainian Parliament fell victim to political intrigues, initiated by members of the majority, including representatives of the democratic “orange coalition”, not the opposition. Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko said as much in an interview for the BBC, adding that the situation could be settled by means of constitutional reform. He planned to deliver his annual message to the Verkhovnaya Rada (Parliament) on 12 and 13 May, but, he failed to do this because the tribune was blocked by his former allies from the Yuliya Timoshenko bloc.

15 May 2008

http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&q=27058&cid=45&p=15.05.2008)

PACE refuses to classify the famine in the USSR in the 1930s as deliberate genocide against the Ukrainian people

Konstantin Kosachov (1962- ), Russian delegate to the PACE

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe refused to classify the famine in the early 1930’s in the USSR as deliberate genocide against the Ukrainian people. In a television interview Friday, Russian delegate Konstantin Kosachov called attention to the millions of deaths suffered amongst other ethnic groups during that tragic period.

16 May 2008

http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&q=27117&cid=48&p=16.05.2008

Editor’s Note:

The so-called “Golodomor” is not recognised outside certain “Orange” factions in the Ukraine and the Galician diaspora. The tragedy of that time hit us all. Russians, Ukrainians, Azeris, Kazakhs, Uzbeks, Jews… yes, ALL suffered in the years of collectivisation. To confine it to one group and to deem it “genocide” spits in the face of the truth. Pray for the repose of the souls of ALL the victims, it is the only decent thing to do.

BMD

Russian national TV is running a viewer contest for the greatest compatriot of all time

Russian national television is running a viewer contest for the greatest compatriot of all time. The nominees number about 500, to be shortlisted down to 12. Each of the finalists shall be featured in a separate programme. The winner will be announced in late December.

16 May 2008

http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&q=27111&cid=48&p=16.05.2008

Serbian patriotic parties form ruling coalition

Vojislav Kostunica (1944- ), leader of the Serb patriotic coalition

Serbian patriotic parties agreed to form a ruling coalition following the results of the 11 May snap parliamentary election. Democratic leader Vojislav Kostunica, the head of the Serbian Radical Party Tomislav Nikolic, and Socialist leader Ivisa Dacic singed an agreement on the priorities of the newly-formed government, which is expected to accept no supporters of President Boris Tadic. Amongst the top tasks for the near future, the coalition leaders listed the struggle for Serbian territorial integrity, rapid economic growth, and further integration of Serbia (with Kosovo as a constituent part) into Europe.

16 May 2008

http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&q=27102&cid=45&p=16.05.2008

Golden Knight Film Festival Shows the Harmony of Life by Means of Art

Nikolai Burlyaev (1947- ), People’s Artist of Russia, actor and film director

The Golden Knight Film Festival is a forum of Slav and Orthodox nations open to the entire world. This statement belongs to the initiator and president of the Golden Knight International Film Festival, the prominent Russian actor and director Nikolai Burlyaev. The whole history of the forum which is due to open for the 17th time on 22 May proves that his words are true. Filmmakers of 30 countries shall arrive in Moscow, including France, Syria, Hungary, Iran, Uzbekistan, Canada, Greece, Mexico, Israel, and Sweden; they are not all representatives of the Christian world. Why is the Golden Knight film festival a point of attraction for them?

In the opinion of Mr Burlyaev, “Many confess that the Golden Knight film festival is, probably, the only venue for a meeting of representatives of positive trends in the world’s cinematography. The human heart clearly distinguishes between what is positive and elevating for the human soul and what is not. We represent cinema that is a source of inspiration for the human soul”. This idea is clearly seen in the forum’s motto, which is “For Christian moral ideals”. Life shows us that the moral ideals of various nations and persons of various confessions practically coincide or are consonant, at least. This is why amongst the winners of the Golden Knight festival were a film by South Korean filmmaker Kim Ki-Duk, The Bow, telling about eternal love, the work of Serb director Kovacevic, My Brothers’ Sons, a story of a big family which lost all of its men in the wars of the 21st century, and Pavel Lungin’s film The Island, featuring a man who became a monk to atone for his crushing guilt.

The international jury of the Golden Knight film festival appreciates most the films that bring forth the idea of a person’s moral transformation, or their spiritual development. Present-day audiences need such films badly. A proof of this is the almost 40 Golden Knight Clubs in 11 countries, including Finland and China. On the programme of the forthcoming festival are 220 films of all genres and styles, including feature films and animated cartoons. There are many films representing contemporary Serb and Balkan cinema as a whole. This is characteristic for the Golden Knight Festival. It gives its most enthusiastic support to cinema emerging from trouble-spots where external forces interfere in the lives of people, often trampling basic norms of human morals. There is another prominent trend, an abundance of films from Western Europe. Notably, Germany has sent the biggest number of works for the competition of student début films. This means that the younger generation of European filmmakers shares the ideas and values asserted by the Golden Knight Film Festival. In addressing festival participants, Patriarch Aleksei of Moscow and all the Russias said that their aim is to show the harmony of life by means of art. This is one of the most difficult, but, yet, feasible tasks of art in the contemporary world.

15 May 2008

Voice of Russia World Service

http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&q=27052&cid=62&p=15.05.2008

President Medvedev says that Modernisation of the RVSN is a “Prime Necessity”

President Dmitri Medvedev (1965- )

President Dmitri Medvedev emphasised the vital need to continue the modernisation of the Strategic Rocket Forces (RVSN) to meet global threats. “During the 1990s, we, due to various reasons, both subjective and objective, spent peanuts on missile defence, and its development all but stalled”, Mr Medvedev said during a visit to a strategic missile division northwest of Moscow, his first working trip since he officially took office last week. “In recent years, however, we’ve been picking up here and earmarked 25 billion roubles (1.054 billion USD. 676 million euros. 539 million UK pounds) for this purpose in the near future”, the president added. Mr Medvedev said that within the next few years the government would allocate all necessary funding for the RVSN, which he said must be able to face the current level of threats in the contemporary global situation.

Currently, strategic missile forces are being reequipped. They are receiving new mobile Topol-M ICBM launchers. The rocket installed in this system achieves high speed faster than previous models. The design of the engines and control equipment guarantees a flight that is unpredictable to the enemy. The range of the rocket is 10,000 kilometres (6,213 miles). The rocket division the president visited is the first one equipped with this system. Mr Medvedev could monitor how the officers on duty control the launching of a rocket. Concerning the participation of the Topol-M missiles in the recent parade celebrating the 63rd anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany, the president emphasised that it was not muscle-flexing, but, it was an expression of honour to the Russian armed forces and their traditions. The Russian nuclear missile force is one of the foremost factors in our military doctrine in containing aggressors, guaranteeing security and maintaining stability in international relations.

15 May 2008

Voice of Russia World Service

http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&q=27074&cid=58&p=15.05.2008