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The ticketed series of weekly talks – ‘An experiment intelligible to the millions: Soviet Cinema from the Revolution to perestroika’ – by leading British film historians shone on a spotlight on the wide range of artistic styles and thematic content in Soviet film – offering up a counterpoint to the programme’s focus on Eisenstein. A carefully chosen reading list was also offered in advance.
Participants included Prof Ian Christie (Anniversary Professor of Film and Media History, University of London), Dr. Rachel Morley (Lecturer in Russian Cinema and Culture at UCL SSEES), Dr. Emma Widdis (Reader in Russian Studies, Department of Slavonic Studies, The University of Cambridge), Dr. Philip Cavendish (Reader in Russian and Soviet Film Studies at UCL SSEES), Dr. Jeremy Hicks (Chair Of Department Of Russian, Reader in Russian Culture and Film, University of London) and Carmen Gray, film critic and member of the selection committee for Critics’ Week Berlin.
Results
Rachel Morley spoke on Russian cinema before 1917, Ian Christie talked on Protazanov, Barnet and the new Soviet Citizen, Creating the New Heroes and Heroines of the 1930s, and anxiety in Soviet films of the 1960s, Phil Cavendish spoke on Russian Colour Film, Emma Widdis spoke on Film and the Making of the new Soviet Person, Jeremy Hicks spoke on Red Funerals and Meaningful Martyrdoms and at a later lecture on the use of War Footage in Russian films and Carmen Gray spoke on Tarkovsky: the Citizen Poet and the State.
I found speaking as part of the Unexpected Eisenstein educational programme to be very rewarding. The opportunity for interaction between speaker and audience is excellent, and the ‘students’ bring a wide range of expertise and genuine curiosity. The programme is well-curated and provocative.
