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Kino Klassika Host a Gala Screening of Silent Film Masterpiece The End of St Petersburg to Support
Centenary of the Revolution Film Festival in London
London, 8 November 2016: As the Centenary of the Russian Revolution approaches, Kino Klassika Foundation will host a screening of Vsevolod Pudovkin’s masterpiece, The End of St Petersburg (1927) at the Electric Cinema in partnership with Fabergé to launch a festival of films and events to mark the Russian Revolution centenary next year.
Vsevolod Pudovkins’ rarely screened silent film masterpiece was great British film director Stanley
Kubrick’s favourite filmThe invited guests mix the British and Russian creative and business communities. Attending guests include War and Peace actor James Norton and Bond girl Olga Kurylenko, film directors Carol Morley and Christopher
Hampton, composers Michael Nyman and Gabriel Prokofiev, National Portrait Gallery director Nicholas Cullinan, Earl Clanwilliam, Russian film historians Orlando Figes and Catriona Kelly, Sean Gilbertson CEO of Fabergé and host of the evening, actress Justine Waddell. The evening will be supported by iconic artist jeweller Fabergé.
THE END OF ST PETERSBURG: A RARELY SCREENED MASTERPIECE
The film was commissioned for the 10th anniversary of the Revolution alongside Sergei Eisenstein’s October. The film’s director, Vsevolod Pudovkin, ambitiously wanted it to cover two centuries of the city’s history and feature bomb throwing insurrectionists among simple common folk. Both elaborate productions were shot simultaneously in the city with both climaxing in the storming of the Winter Palace. At one point, Pudovkin’s film crew were bombing the Winter Palace (or Hermitage as we now know it) from the Aurora battleship while Eisenstein’s rival film crew were bombarding it from the opposite side at the Fortress of St Peter and Paul!Nevertheless, The End of St Petersburg is Pudovkin's finest film, a magnificent tribute to a city as well as an unusually rich and moving portrayal of revolution from below. Eisenstein's October exults in the destruction of pre-revolutionary culture. Pudovkin, on the other hand, shows how working-class Russians rose from their cellars to take charge of the splendid expanses from which they had previously been banned. Often pilloried as a conformist, Pudovkin is a unique figure whose cine-eye had a huge influence on world cinema in the postwar era, as well as on later Soviet film.
A WORLD TO WIN: A CENTURY OF REVOLUTION ON SCREEN
In 2017, Kino Klassika will screen this season of films inspired by Russian Revolutionary filmmaking of the 1920s. Bringing together films by directors such as Eisenstein, Kalatozov, Shepitko and Smirnov, Godard, Rocha, Wajda, Bertolucci and Loach, the season includes the once-banned Soviet film commissioned to commemorate the 50th anniversary of 1917. Screening at London’s iconic Regent St Cinema, and then at other venues across the UK from Friday 17 February 2017 the season pays engaging
and rigorous tribute to the moment in history out of which these films were born. The program will culminate in the Kino Klassika landmark screening of October: Ten Days that Shook the World, with the London Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican Centre on 26 October 2017, 100 years to the day after the start of the Bolshevik Revolution. As importantly, this gala screening of The End of St Petersburg is the second Kino Klassika and Fabergé gala, marking Fabergé’s ongoing commitment to support the sharing of the best of Russian culture. Host of the Evening and Trustee of Kino Klassika, Justine Waddell says: “We are delighted to host this gala screening of The End of St Petersburg, Vsevolod Pudovkin’s Revolutionary masterpiece. Few people know the films of Vsevolod Pudovkin compared to those of Sergei Eisenstein but he is a leading figure in revolutionary Russian cinema. He also had a powerful impact on generations of filmmakers like British film director Stanley Kubrick. Fabergé’s generous and ongoing support means we can bring his films to a new audience as we raise support to mark the centenary of the Revolution next year.” Sean Gilbertson, CEO of Fabergé, a sponsor of Kino Klassika, say: “At times of heightened political chariness, it can be enlightening to explore shared cultural heritage and artistic inspirations. The influence of Russian film on contemporary culture is a never-ending story. Fabergé is also a never-ending story and this shared journey of discovery, inspired us to sponsor this rare screening to support Kino Klassika and enhance international audiences’ familiarity with exceptional Russian filmmaking.”
NOTES TO EDITORSAbout Kino Klassika Foundation
Kino Klassika creates programs of restorations, publications, art commissions and events to to educate audiences about and create cultural understanding between East and West. We are a UK registered charity no: 1150791. Our Patron is Ralph Fiennes, our Trustees: Professor Ian Christie, Daniel Jowell QC, Roger Munnings CBE and Justine Waddell.About Justine Waddell, Host and Executive Trustee of Kino Klassika
Justine Waddell is an award-winning actress and the founder of Kino Klassika. After playing Estella in the BBC's BAFTA winning Great Expectations and Tess in ITV’s Tess of the D'Urbervilles, Justine starred in Tarsem’s cult hit film The Fall, and Chaos with Jason Statham and Ryan Phillipe. Justine starred in Vladimir Sorokin and Alexander Zeldovichs’ sci-
fi version of Anna Karenina, Target, for which she learnt the Russian language from scratch and from which she has developed an enduring interest in Russian culture and cinematography. Justine is currently writing a screenplay of Virginia Woolf’s early comic novel, Night and Day, with the British Film Institute. About Professor Catriona Kelly, Introducing the Screening
Professor Catriona Kelly is a world-renowned specialist in Russian history and culture. Her books include St Petersburg: Shadows of the Past, Childrens’ World: Growing Up in Russia, 1890-1991, Comrade Pavlik: The Rise and Fall of a Soviet Boy Hero, and numerous other works on Russian literature, modernism, and cultural history. She is currently Professor of Russian at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of New College, and is working on a history of cinema in Leningrad and St Petersburg.
About Fabergé
Fabergé, the world’s most iconic artist jeweller, creates extraordinary jewellery, timepieces and objets d’art, as well as bespoke commissions for a discerning international clientele. Founded in 1842, Fabergé has been the most revered name in jewellery ever since Peter Carl Fabergé became official goldsmith to the Russian Imperial Court; the house created exquisite jewels and objects, including the legendary series of lavish Imperial Easter Eggs. Today, Fabergé takes inspiration from its storied past to introduce a new era of enchanting and enduring personal possessions and gifts for contemporary connoisseurs. By painting with the world’s finest coloured gemstones, Fabergé explores a life in colour through creations which are designed to become future heirlooms. Current collections are available at Fabergé boutiques in London and New York, London and Geneva, as well as at Harrods in London and other exclusive international retailers. Selected items are also available via Fabergé’s online boutique at Faberge.com.
FESTIVAL DATES: February 2017 – October 2017
Kino Klassika Foundation Media Contact:
Maria PasholokCommunications [email protected]+44 7450 225 099
